LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Fans witnessed the greatest scoring duel in West Coast Conference Championships history late Saturday night as Colbey Ross of Pepperdine scored 43 and Jordan Ford of Saint Mary's scored 42, but it was unfortunately the Gaels who pulled off an 89-82 double-overtime win in the men's basketball quarterfinals.
 
Ross set Pepperdine's WCC Tournament record and posted the second-best scoring effort in WCC Tournament history, while Ford's total ranks third.
 
The Waves (16-16) battled back from a 13-point second-half deficit to force overtime on a pair of Ross free throws with nine seconds left. The Waves had a shot to win at the end of the first overtime but missed. The Gaels (25-7) finally put Pepperdine away in the second OT.
 
BIG WAVES

• Junior guard Colbey Ross (Aurora, Colo./Eaglecrest HS) set a career high with his 43 points, which included 13-for-29 shooting, a career-high seven three-pointers on 13 attempts and a 10-for-11 effort from the foul line. He also had eight rebounds and five assists. He broke Lamond Murray Jr.'s Pepperdine tournament record of 41 set in 2017. He finished two points shy of San Francisco's Tim Owens' record of 45 set in 1991. Ross' 43 points were the most scored by any Wave since Bird Averitt in 1973. He scored 22 in the second half, his fifth time this season scoring 20 or more in the second half.
• Sophomore forward Kessler Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) got his ninth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
• Senior forward Kameron Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Etiwanda HS) was saddled with foul trouble all night and finished with four points and six rebounds.
• Freshman guard Sedrick Altman (Rialto, Calif./Colony HS) had six points, three rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

KEY STATS 

• The Gaels outshot the Waves 47.2% to 44.4%.
• Pepperdine made 12 of 25 three-pointers (48.0%) to SMC's 8-for-27 (29.6%).
• Seventeen turnovers hurt the Waves, as the Gaels committed only nine and had a 19-6 edge in points off turnovers.
• The Gaels' Ford had a career-high 42 points, making 17 of 30 shots, five of 12 three-pointers and three of four free throws.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
Ross scored the Waves' first seven points and helped Pepperdine get out to a 7-2 lead. A pair of Kameron Edwards baskets, followed by two free throws by sophomore center Victor Ohia Obioha (Owerri, Nigeria/Hillcrest HS), gave Pepperdine its largest lead of the game at 13-6.
 
A Kessler Edwards three-pointer gave Pepperdine a 19-15 lead with about 12 minutes left, but the Waves' offense went cold for an extended period. They went 8 1/2 minutes without a field goal, and only managed four Ross free throws during that time. Saint Mary's took advantage by going on an 18-4 run and grabbing a 10-point lead at 33-23 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the half. It was 40-31 at the break.
 
Saint Mary's went up 45-32 early in the second half, though Ross hit three three-pointers and scored 10 points in a two-minute span to bring the Wave within three points at 47-44 with 15 1/2 minutes to play. Still, SMC pulled ahead again, going up 11 with 8:25 left.
 
But Ross took over and the Waves' defense came through. Ross and Kessler Edwards each scored five points in a 10-0 run that made it 68-67. The Gaels scored the next four points to go back up five at 72-67 with 3:53 left, but Pepperdine's defense wouldn't allow them to score again in regulation. Ross hit a three-pointer with 3:01 left, then made two free throws to tie it with nine seconds left. SMC missed a last-second shot to send the game to overtime tied at 72.
 
The Waves led twice in the first overtime, when Ross scored in the paint to make it 77-75, and again when Ross made a three-point play with 30 seconds left, making it 80-79. Saint Mary's made one of two free throws with 18 seconds left. The Waves had the last shot and got a good look, but it didn't go.
 
Pepperdine scored first in the second overtime period when junior guard Keith Smith (Seattle, Wash./Rainier Beach HS/Oregon) converted a lay-up with 3:51 left, but that would be Pepperdine's final points of the game. But, it was still close until the end, with SMC holding the ball and a two-point lead in the final minute. With the shot clock about to expire, the Gaels' Ford hit a turnaround three-pointer to put Saint Mary's up 87-82 with 26 seconds left, and that would be the game-deciding shot.
 
NOTABLES 

• Ross' raised his career scoring total to 1,763 points, #2 all-time at Pepperdine. He's 23 points behind Stacy Davis' record.
• Ross' single-season totals from this season rank the following on Pepperdine's records lists: #1 in assists per game (7.2), #1 in minutes played (1,204), #2 in assists (229), #3 in minutes per game (37.6), #4 in free throws made (176), #7 in three-pointers made (74), #8 in points (656) and #8 in points per game (20.5).
• In recent years, Saint Mary's has ended Pepperdine's run at the WCC Tournament in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020.
• Pepperdine was 2-2 in overtime games this year.
• This was the 24th consecutive game that Pepperdine was without at least three injured players. It's also the 29th time in 32 games they've been without multiple players.