MALIBU, California – Maxwell Lewis poured in 27 points and the Pepperdine men's basketball team romped to a 96-69 victory over Westmont on Thursday afternoon to close out non-conference play.
 
The Waves (6-9) used a 18-2 run in the first half to take the lead for good and then scored 22 straight points over the end of the first half and the start of the second to blow the game open.
 
Due to rules differences between the NCAA and NAIA, Pepperdine is counting this as an official game while Westmont is considering it an exhibition.
 
BIG WAVES

• Freshman forward Maxwell Lewis (Las Vegas, Nev./AZ Compass Prep) scored 27 points, the most by any Wave this season. He made three three-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. Nineteen of his 27 points came in the second half. He narrowly missed his first career double-double with nine rebounds.
• Freshman guard Mike Mitchell Jr. (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) added 14 points on a season-high four three-pointers. He also had a team-high seven assists.
• Graduate transfer forward Keith Fisher III (Los Angeles, Calif./Illinois State) notched his second double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-high-tying 13 rebounds,
• Junior forward Jan Zidek (Prague, Czech Republic) scored 11 points, his sixth straight game in double-figures.
• Senior guard Jade' Smith (Oakland, Calif./St. Joseph Notre Dame HS) added 10 points and six assists.

PLAY BY PLAY
 
There were several lead changes in the first 10 minutes, and some early good shooting by the Warriors saw them take a six-point lead at 27-21 with 8 1/2 minutes left in the first half. But Lewis scored four points in a 10-0 run as the Waves went up 31-27. After a Westmont basket, freshman guard Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) had five points in an 8-0 run to push the lead to 39-29. Sophomore guard Majok Deng (Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic HS) hit a pair of three-pointers as the Waves scored the final seven points of the half to go up 49-34 at the break.
 
Pepperdine scored the first 15 points of the second half, with Zidek and Fisher accounting for 12 of them, as the Waves went up 30 at 64-34. Lewis scored 12 points in a row during a 13-0 run that made the lead 83-44 with 8:21 to play. A Mitchell basket gave Pepperdine its largest lead of 40 points at 90-50 with 5 1/2 minutes left before Westmont narrowed the deficit a bit over the final minutes.
 
KEY STATS 

• Pepperdine outshot Westmont 48.6% to 37.7%.
• Both teams made 11 three-pointers.
• Pepperdine had a 52-33 rebounding edge, and 15 offensive rebounds led to an 18-6 advantage in second-chance points.
• The Waves forced 20 turnovers and had a 25-9 edge in points off turnovers.
• Westmont was led by Nate Meithof's 22 points.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine opens West Coast Conference play on Saturday, January 1, when the Waves visit Pacific at 5:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on the WCC Network and there will be an audio-only WaveCasts at PepperdineWaves.com.