Pepperdine University
3-7
Long Beach State
5-7
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach State | 35 | 43 | 78 |
| Pepperdine | 35 | 36 | 71 |
Short-handed Waves Fall at Home to 49ers
12/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MALIBU, California " Down another important starter, the short-handed Pepperdine men's basketball team stayed close with Long Beach State for most of the night but the 49ers ended up with a 78-71 victory on Saturday night in Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Waves (3-7) got one projected starter back in Eric Cooper Jr., who had a nice debut with 14 points, but were missing two others, including the team's top scorer and rebounder, Kameron Edwards (concussion).
 | BIG WAVES |
- Freshman guard Trae Berhow (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer HS) had a team-high 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting to go with six rebounds.
- Junior guard Eric Cooper Jr. (Ontario, Calif./St. Anthony HS/Nevada) missed the first nine games of the season due to a shoulder injury. He scored 14 points off the bench in his first game with the Waves.
- Sophomore forward Nolan Taylor (Keller, Texas/Keller HS) had eight points and seven rebounds.
- Freshman guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had eight points and six assists.
- Junior forward Darnell Dunn (Kinston, N.C./Kinston HS/Miami Dade JC) made his first career start and had seven points and seven rebounds.
| KEY STATS |
- Long Beach State outshot Pepperdine, 48.3% to 45.3%, and made more three-pointers (eight to six) and free throws (12 to seven).
- Pepperdine had a 39-33 rebounding edge, and 16 offensive rebounds led to 15 second-chance points.
- The Waves committed 16 turnovers to the 49ers' 12, and Long Beach State had a 23-18 edge in points off turnovers.
- Two former WCC players led the 49ers, as Bryan Alberts (Gonzaga transfer) had 20 points and made six three-pointers, and Gabe Levin (Loyola Marymount transfer) had 16 points.
| PLAY BY PLAY |
The Waves scored the game's first four points and led 18-14 after an Amadi Udenyi jumper with 9:21 to go in the first half. But the 49ers came back to go ahead 25-21, and later 35-26 with 2:41 to left. Pepperdine responded by scoring the final nine points of the second half to tie the game up at 35-35 at halftime.
The Waves never led in the second half after the 49ers scored the first four points. It was a nine-point game at 51-42 with 14 minutes left, but the Waves came back with nine straight points, five of them by Cooper, to tie the game at 51 with 11 1/2 minutes to go.
A 13-2 Long Beach State run over about a three-minute span gave the 49ers their first double-digit lead of the game at 64-53 with eight minutes left. The biggest lead would be 12 and the Waves would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
| NOTABLES |
- The other missing starter, Matthew Atewe (back) was out for the third straight game. Kaijae Yee-Stephens (knee) has yet to play this season. The Waves' total number of player-games missed due to injury is up to 25 this season.
- Amadi Udenyi had five assists and moved up to ninth place on the Waves' all-time assist list with 359.
- The 49ers won for only the second time in their last eight trips to Malibu.
| HIGHLIGHTS |
| UP NEXT |
The Waves have final exams next week, and that will be followed up by the team's final non-conference road trip as Pepperdine visits Belmont (Saturday, Dec. 16) and Weber State (Tuesday, Dec. 19). Both games will have audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein on the call.
