SANTA CLARA, California – The Pepperdine men's basketball team suffered another close loss, falling 67-64 at Santa Clara on Thursday night in West Coast Conference play as the Broncos sank three free throws with 1.9 seconds left.
 
The Waves (8-9, 1-2) have lost four games this season by four or fewer points, including each of the last two. The Broncos (10-7, 2-1) overcame a 37-29 halftime deficit and some early hot shooting by the Waves.
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) picked up his fifth double-double of the season, and his third in the last four games, with 13 points and 10 assists.
• Freshman forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) came off the bench to record his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, plus three steals.
• Sophomore guard Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS) contributed seven points and seven rebounds.

 KEY STATS

• The Waves were outshot 51.0% to 40.0%. The Waves shot 48.3% in the first half, and 8-for-12 (67%) on three-pointers, but those numbers dipped to 32.3% and 3-for-11 (27%) in the second half. Santa Clara shot 50% or better in both halves.
• Pepperdine was outrebounded 37-27.
• The Waves committed only eight turnovers while forcing 16.
• Tahj Eaddy (28 points) and Josip Vrankic (22 points) combined to score 50 of Santa Clara's 67 points. No one else on the Broncos had more than six.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
Neither team led by more than three over the first 16 minutes and there were seven lead changes in that time. Pepperdine led 27-26 with a little more than four minutes to go, and finished the half on a 10-3 run, the last seven points by freshman guard/forward Andre Ball (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills HS), making it 37-29 at the half.
 
The Waves led the first 7 1/2 minutes of the second half, but three Bronco three-pointers in a little more than a minute took it from a 47-42 Pepperdine lead to a 51-47 Santa Clara lead with 11:10 left. Pepperdine would never lead again.
 
Santa Clara's lead grew to as many as six points at 63-57 with over a minute and a half to go. But, senior guard Eric Cooper Jr. (Ontario, Calif./St. Anthony HS/Nevada) hit a three-pointer, and then Edwards made a lay-up with 34 seconds left to make it a one-point game at 63-62.
 
The Waves fouled with 19.8 seconds left, and Eaddy made one of two free throws. Ross tied the game at 64 on a driving basket with 8.3 seconds left. Unfortunately, the Waves fouled Eaddy on a three-point attempt, and he sank all three free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining. A three-quarter-court heave by Ross came close, but bounced off the rim.
 
NOTABLES 

• The Waves lost for the fifth straight year in the Leavey Center.
• Pepperdine's next win will be the 400th in the head coaching career of Lorenzo Romar.
• Before last week, the Waves hadn't had two players record a double-double in a game in nearly two years, but now it's happened in two consecutive games.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine's next leg of this road trip is at San Diego on Saturday (Jan. 12) at 1 p.m. It's the WCC Game of the Week and it will air on Spectrum SportsNet. It can also be heard on WaveCasts with Al Epstein at PepperdineWaves.com.