HONOLULU, Hawai'i – The Pepperdine men's basketball team fell to Iona 76-66 in the Waves' final game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Christmas Day.

Freshman Jevon Porter was plagued by foul trouble but amassed seven boards in addition to his five points, while sophomore Mike Mitchell Jr. accrued seven assists. 
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore Maxwell Lewis (Las Vegas, Nev./AZ Compass Prep) had 23 points and eight rebounds as well as a steal. 
• Freshman Jalen Pitre (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly HS/Woodstock Academy) matched his career high from the previous game with 11 points and added on six rebounds.
• Sophomore Carson Basham (Phoenix, Ariz./AZ Compass Prep) scored eight points and had three rebounds. 

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pepperdine started off the game neck-and-neck with the Gaels, going into the first media timeout tied at 7-all, until Iona created issues for the Waves in the paint midway through the half. Pepperdine briefly took the lead with nine minutes to go but the Gaels capitalized on costly Waves' turnovers to go up 10 into the break. 
In the second half, the Waves were held to 36% from the field and went down by as much as 19 just before the 10-minute mark. Pepperdine gained a 6-0 run to cut the Gaels' lead to 13 but couldn't stop Iona's three point barrage. With three minutes left in the contest, Lewis hit a stepback three to help claw the Waves back within 10, but that was as close as Pepperdine could get before the final buzzer sounded with a 76-66 final score.

KEY STATS

• This was the second time this season that the Waves committed less turnovers than their opponents but lost. 
• Iona shot 49% from the field compared to Pepperdine's 39%.
• The Waves led in both second chance and bench points with 12 and 21.

UP NEXT
The Waves will travel to Spokane, Wash. to take on #11 Gonzaga for their West Coast Conference opener. The game will be broadcast on the Bally Sports Network (Bally Sports SoCal in the Los Angeles area) set to tip off at 2:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein will also have the call on WaveCasts.