STOCKTON, California – The Pepperdine men's basketball team nearly stole one at Pacific on Saturday night, but the Tigers survived Colbey Ross' 28 points and a last-season missed shot to pick up a 79-78 West Coast Conference victory.
 
The Waves (13-12, 6-5) and Tigers (19-8, 7-4) entered the night tied for fourth in the WCC.
 
BIG WAVES

• Junior guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) had his 13th 20-point game of the season and his second of the weekend. He made 10 of 18 shots and sank three three-pointers, and also accumulated five assists and five rebounds.
• Senior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had 15 points and five rebounds.
• Sophomore forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) had 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
• Freshman guard Sedrick Altman (Rialto, Calif./Colony HS) scored a season-high 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

KEY STATS 

• The Waves outshot the Tigers 47.5% to 46.6%.
• Pacific hit more threes (nine to six). Both teams made 16 free throws.
• The Waves committed just eight turnovers to the Tigers' 10.
• Pacific got 24 points and 15 rebounds from Jahlil Tripp and 22 points from Daniss Jenkins.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves never led in the first half. A 10-2 Pacific run made it 18-9 with 13 minutes left in the half, and the Tigers' biggest lead of the game came at 31-21 with 6 1/2 minutes left. Pepperdine scored the next eight points to get it down to two at 31-29 with four minutes left, and eventually made it a one-point game at 40-39 after a Ross three-pointer. Pacific would go into the break with a 42-39 lead.
 
Altman tied the game early in the second half at 44 with a three-point play. The Waves later took their first lead of the game at 55-54 with 12:50 left on a Kameron Edwards free throw.
 
Pacific went back up by as many as five points, but the Waves kept at it. Back-to-back baskets in the paint by Kameron Edwards and Ross put Pepperdine in front for the second time at 75-73 with 1:20 left. Pacific's Jahbril Price-Noel hit a three from the left corner to put the Tigers back ahead at 76-75 with a minute left.
 
Ross countered with a three-pointer of his own, and the Waves took a 78-76 lead with 40.8 seconds left. But Pacific's Tripp got an offensive rebound, made the putback, was fouled and hit the three throw with 11.4 seconds remaining, giving the Tigers the lead at 79-78. A three-point attempt by Pepperdine in the closing seconds was off the mark.
 
NOTABLES 

• Ross recorded his 600th career assist tonight, becoming the first Pepperdine basketball player to reach that milestone.
• Ross also raised his career scoring total to 1,600 points and passed Tom Lewis (1,575) for seventh place on the Waves' all-time list.
• Pacific has now won six consecutive regular-season games against Pepperdine (and seven of eight overall).
• This was the 17th consecutive game that Pepperdine was without at least three injured players. It's also the 22nd time in 25 games they've been without multiple players.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine has a pair of home games next week, facing San Diego on Thursday (Feb. 13) at 8 p.m. and Gonzaga on Saturday (Feb. 15) at 7 p.m.