LOS ANGELES – Five Waves scored in double-figures and the Pepperdine men's basketball team led LMU the entire second half to defeat the Lions 72-63 on Saturday evening.
The Waves (10-16, 3-8 WCC) were electrified midway through the second half by redshirt-freshman
Cord Stansberry, who went on a run of his own to help stiff-arm any LMU comeback attempt.
BIG WAVES
- Michael Ajayi (Kent, Wash./Pierce College) hit double-double number 14 of the season on 17 points and 13 rebounds. The junior moves up Pepperdine's single-season double-double leaderboard now tied for sixth.
- Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) delivered 13 points while going spotless from the free throw line at 6-of-6 and added on a rebound and an assist.
- Jevon Porter (Columbia, Mo./Father Tolton Catholic) added on 11 points and six boards to go with two assists, two blocks and a steal.
- Cord Stansberry (Bermuda Dunes, Calif./Shadow Hills HS) went on a run of his own in the second half where he scored eight of his total 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting while electrifying the Waves bench. He also added on three rebounds and a steal.
KEY STATS
- Pepperdine outshot the Lions from field-goal range at 44% to LMU's 41% and from the charity stripe, at 79% to 73%.
- The Waves committed one less turnover than LMU but converted 11 points from Lion errors compared to LMU's three points off Pepperdine turnovers.
- In the paint, the Lions just narrowly edged Pepperdine scoring 32 to the Waves' 30 from that range, but the good guys won the rebounding battle 38-32.
- Pepperdine enjoyed 16 bench points in comparison to LMU's four.
RECAP
The Lions struck first in Gersten Pavilion, using their size inside early but
Ethan Anderson backed down his defender in the paint, rebounded his own shot and made the putback to even things out in the first minute. Both teams traded buckets, not seeing a run larger than five points by either squad. With just under five to play in the half, Moore nailed a jumper before sinking a three in consecutive offensive possessions and Mallette delivered on a pair of free throws to finally sneak the Waves into the lead. Pepperdine would head into the locker rooms with a narrow 30-29 lead.
It was all Waves in the second stanza as Ajayi, Porter, Moore and Anderson combined to lead Pepperdine on a 10-0 run in the first three minutes. Ajayi made key buckets down the stretch to keep the Lions at bay and Stansberry went off after the under-12 media timeout, answering every LMU shot with a run of his own. Starting with a steal that led to a dunk for the guard to get the bench up and rowdy, the redshirt freshman hit two jumpers with finesse before driving to the bucket for a layup with contact.
Nils Cooper went hard on the glass for Pepperdine in the dwindling minutes, grabbing an offensive board and completing his putback with an acrobatic finish. The closest the Waves would allow the Lions to get would be within nine, where Pepperdine would stretch its lead to 16 with five minutes to play in regulation. Free throws iced the game for the good guys, as the buzzer sounded at a 72-63 final score.
UP NEXT
The Waves head to Moraga, Calif. next Thursday to take on Saint Mary's before returning to Malibu Saturday to host Portland.
