Pepperdine University
Saint Mary's
Waves Push First-Place Gaels Before Falling 79-71
2/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2011
Pepperdine-Saint Mary's Box Score 
MORAGA, Calif. -- The Pepperdine men's basketball team gave a tremendous effort at Saint Mary's on Thursday night, but turnovers, foul trouble and the first-place Gaels eventually wore down the Waves in a 79-71 defeat in West Coast Conference play.
The Gaels (19-4, 7-1) defeated the Waves (9-16, 3-5) by 25 last month at Firestone Fieldhouse, but a determined Pepperdine squad led this one early and never allowed Saint Mary's to fully pull away. The Gaels improved to 12-0 at home, but this was their smallest margin of victory besides a five-point win over St. John's.
Junior guard Keion Bell (Los Angeles, Calif./Pasadena HS) led the Waves with 24 points off the bench, while junior guard Lorne Jackson (Simi Valley, Calif./Simi Valley HS) scored 16 and senior forward Mychel Thompson (Portland, Ore./Santa Margarita Catholic HS/Stoneridge Prep) added 11,
Just a few days after shooting a season-high 54.7% against San Francisco, the Waves did even better tonight by making 55.1% of their shots. And though they were able to hold the Gaels to 46.2% shooting, Pepperdine's 21 offensive miscues led to a 33-8 edge for Saint Mary's in points off turnovers.
Unlike the first meeting when Saint Mary's got off to a 28-14 lead after nine minutes, it was Pepperdine that jumped out to a great start tonight. Jackson scored seven and junior forward Taylor Darby (San Marcos, Calif./Mission Hills HS) scored six in helping the Waves to an 18-12 lead at the midway point of the first half. But the Waves suffered their first blow when sophomore guard Joshua Lowery (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS) picked up his second foul just seven minutes into the contest and sat for the remainder of the half.
Saint Mary's picked up its game from there, going on a 15-3 run and eventually taking a 34-27 lead at halftime.
But the Waves hung in there by hitting their first five shots of the second half. The last one, a jumper by Jackson, tied the score at 36-36 with a little more than 17 minutes to play. Pepperdine would tie the game again at 41-41 with a little more than 15 minutes to go after a three-point play by Jackson.
But the fouls began piling up for Pepperdine. Jackson was called for two in a span of 40 seconds, forcing him to sit with four fouls at the 12:27 mark. Saint Mary's entered the double-bonus with 11 minutes left. The Gaels would finish at 23-for-28 from the foul line (compared to 13-for-19 by the Waves).
After the 41-41 tie, Saint Mary's went on an 11-2 run to take a nine-point lead at 52-43 with 11:44 to play. Bell would score all of Pepperdine's points in an 8-2 run, helping the Waves to close the gap to three points at 54-51, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way. Saint Mary's went up by as many as 14 points toward the end of the game.
Both Jackson and Lowery fouled out in the final minute and seven of the Waves finished with at least three fouls.
The Waves now head south for a game at San Diego on Saturday (Feb. 5) at 6 p.m. Fans can listen to Al Epstein's broadcast for free via Wave Casts and join an interactive live game blog at www.pepperdinesports.com.
