ABILENE, Texas – Behind Colbey Ross' 22 points, the Pepperdine men's basketball team won its third straight game by going on the road and defeating Abilene Christian, 73-69, on Saturday night.
 
Until the final margin, it was a three-point game or less for the final 10 minutes of the contest, but the Waves (3-1) were able to keep the lead for the final five minutes to beat the Wildcats (1-2), a 2019 NCAA Tournament team.
 
The trio of Ross and brothers Kameron Edwards and Kessler Edwards combined to score 57 of the Waves' 73 points.
 
BIG WAVES

• Junior guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had a season high with his 22 points while his six assists moved him to #2 on the Waves' career list.
• Senior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) scored 20 points, his third straight with 20 or more, though he fouled out with 1:21 left in the game. He went 9-for-15 from the field and also had six rebounds.
• Sophomore forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and clinched the victory with two free throws with five seconds left.

KEY STATS 

• The Waves outshot the Wildcats 45.1% to 40.0%.
• Pepperdine made the most of its trips to the free throw line, shooting 20-for-23 (87.0%), including 13-for-14 in the second half. Abilene Christian was 24-for-33.
• ACU got 18 points from Payten Ricks and 13 points and 10 rebounds from Kolton Kohl.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
It took a while for the Waves to get going, and they trailed 19-8 with eight minutes left in the first half. But Ross scored eight points in a 13-1 run, putting the Waves ahead 21-20 with 4:14 to go. Junior guard Skylar Chavez (Woodacre, Calif./Drake HS/Santa Rosa JC), sophomore guard Darryl Polk Jr. (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS) and Ross hit three-pointers down the stretch and the Waves went into the break with a 34-26 lead. Over the final eight minutes, the Waves outscored the Wildcats 26-7.
 
ACU tied the game at 36 two minutes into the second half, and though the Waves would regain the lead, they couldn't push the lead beyond five points on a few occasions, the last at 55-50 with 11 minutes left after a Kameron Edwards three-point play.
 
Pepperdine went cold again at that point, unfortunately, going 4 1/2 minutes without a field goal. Abilene Christian took advantage with a 9-2 run to pull ahead 59-57 with under seven minutes to play.
 
ACU's last lead was at 63-62 with about 5 1/2 minutes to play, and it was tied at 64 with under five to go. Two free throws by Polk and one by freshman forward Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) made it 67-64. It was 69-68 with under a minute to go when Ross connected on a tough lay-up attempt.
 
Abilene Christian made one of two free throws with 42 seconds left to cut the lead to 71-69. The Waves missed on their next shot, but ACU missed a game-tying attempt with under 10 seconds to play. Kessler Edwards grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He sank two free throws with five seconds left to ice the victory.
 
NOTABLES 

• Ross raised his career assist total to 451 and passed Mark Wilson (450) for second place on the Waves' all-time list. He's now 43 behind Jeremy Major's school record (494).
• The Waves had to deal with a thin backcourt tonight – Andre Ball has been out, Jade' Smith and Sedrick Altman were held out with minor injuries, and Keith Smith left the game early in the second half with an injury.
• Pepperdine is now 3-1 all-time against Abilene Christian, winning both ends of this home-and-home, and avenged the loss in their only previous trip to Abilene in December 1984.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine is in a stretch of three consecutive road games (and six of seven away from home) and next visits USC on Tuesday (Nov. 23) at 6 p.m. It will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks and there will be an audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein at PepperdineWaves.com.