Pepperdine-Santa Clara Box Score 
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Sophomore guard Keion Bell led the Pepperdine men's basketball team with 25 points, but Santa Clara earned a 62-54 home victory on Saturday night in West Coast Conference play.
The Waves (7-19, 3-7 WCC) beat the Broncos (11-17, 3-8) at home last month, so this is the eighth straight year the schools have split the season series.
Tonight, the Broncos led by just one point at 45-44 with less than 10 minutes left, but were able to pull away from there.
Bell (Los Angeles, Calif./Pasadena HS), the second-ranked scorer in the WCC, reached the 20-point mark for the 13th time this season. He surpassed the 900-point plateau for his career tonight.
Junior forward Mychel Thompson (Portland, Ore./Stoneridge Prep) had 12 points and six rebounds, while junior forward Jonathan Dupre' (Houston, Texas/Collin Country CC) added nine points and seven rebounds. Only five different players scored for Pepperdine.
Santa Clara had four players score in double-figures, led by 16 from Marc Trasolini. The Broncos outshot the Waves 47.7%-30.6% and had advantages of 39-28 on the boards and 32-14 with points in the paint.
The Waves scored the first five points of the game on a three-pointer by Thompson and a lay-up by sophomore forward Taylor Darby (San Marcos, Calif./Mission Hills HS). Bell extended the Waves' lead to seven at 19-12 with a three-pointer just before the 10-minute mark. Santa Clara would rally to take as much as a two-point lead, but Dupre' made a basket in the final minute to send the teams into halftime tied at 31.
With 15 points, Bell had nearly half of the Waves' first-half total. Though Santa Clara had a 50-35% shooting edge in the first half, the Waves kept things even by forcing 11 turnovers.
It was still tied at 35-35 after Thompson scored just before the 17-minute mark, but the Broncos went on a 10-1 run to take their biggest lead at 45-36 with a little less than 12 minutes to play.
The Waves came right back with the next eight points, however, as Dupre' made a jumper, sophomore guard Lorne Jackson (Simi Valley, Calif./Simi Valley HS) sank two free throws and Thompson drained his third three-pointer and later hit a free throw. That cut Santa Clara's lead to 45-44 with less than 10 minutes to go.
But the Broncos followed that with a 9-1 run, as they went ahead 54-45 with less than six minutes to play. Pepperdine would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.
Pepperdine, which has no seniors and has a roster where 11 of the 15 players are underclassmen, was led in scoring by its sophomore class for the 25th time in 26 games.
The Waves next play their final two home games of the season, as Portland comes in on Thursday (Feb. 18) for a 5 p.m. game and Gonzaga invades Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday (Feb. 20) at 6 p.m. The Portland game is on Prime Ticket and the Gonzaga game is on FOX Sports West. Fans can listen to Al Epstein's broadcasts at www.pepperdinesports.com with a subscription to Wave Casts.
