MALIBU – The Pepperdine men's basketball team hung tough with its competition on Saturday evening but suffered a last-second heartbreaker against San Diego, falling 69-67 to the Toreros in Firestone.
 
USD's (12-10, 2-5 WCC) Wayne Mckinney III hit a step-back elbow jumper with one second left in the game and the Waves' (9-14, 2-6 WCC) half-court shot fell just short of a miracle as time ran out to end the game.
 
BIG WAVES

• Michael Ajayi (Kent, Wash./Pierce College) went for a team-high 19 points and five rebounds while dishing out two assists.
• Jevon Porter (Columbia, Mo./Father Tolton Catholic) put together 18 points on a 50% field goal and three point shooting night while pulling down eight boards and tacking on two steals.
• Cord Stansberry (Bermuda Dunes, Calif./Shadow Hills HS) contributed eight points and three rebounds while finishing with a +15 efficiency rating on the night.
• Nils Cooper (Los Angeles, Calif./Crossroads HS) had seven points and five boards while also accruing two assists, one block and three steals.

KEY STATS

• The Waves kept the Toreros to shooting just 7% from beyond the arc- an area in which USD averages 35.3% on the season. Pepperdine finished the game on a 33% three-point mark.
• Pepperdine also caused more San Diego errors at a rate of 13-11.
• The Toreros won the battle in the paint, going for 46 of their total 69 from that range. In the first half alone, USD saw 24 of their 37 points come from inside the lane. Pepperdine recorded 20 from the same area.
• The contest saw 13 total lead changes.

RECAP
In the first 20 minutes of play, San Diego scored 24 of their 37 points from inside the lane as the Waves struggled to keep the Toreros from driving to the basket. Pepperdine would sink to a 10-point deficit before a 7-0 run that included back-to-back Ajayi shots and a Porter post move, bringing the home to back to within a single point. The Torero's zone defense caused the Waves dissent as both teams traded free throws after a Stansberry dagger three. Ethan Anderson drove to the basket for a short jumper that put Pepperdine up 38-37 heading into the locker rooms.
 
The second half started just as tumultuous as the first as both teams fought back and forth. Pepperdine would flirt with the lead before USD would bring themselves back in front and the Toreros would go up by only six at the largest in the latter half. Back-to-back fastbreak buckets kept the Waves competitive, seeing a Cooper dunk followed by an Anderson layup instigated by a Porter steal. Neither team had a stellar night from the charity stripe as the game dwindled down to free throws but with two minutes left in the game, Cooper stole a Torero pass and dished it to Ajayi to go up by a point.
 
Both teams went 3-for-6 from the free throw line in the last minute of play and the game saw itself tied at 67-all with 20 seconds to go. San Diego wound down the clock and hit a contested last-second jumper to go ahead by two, and the Waves' buzzer-beater attempt fell just short of the basket for a 69-67 final.    
 
UP NEXT
The Waves have next Thursday off of competition but head to Portland on Saturday to take on the Pilots at 5 p.m.