Box Score MALIBU – The Pepperdine men's basketball team earned the series sweep over San Diego Thursday evening, racing to an 88-81 finish as four Waves scored double-figures.
 
BIG WAVES

• Stefan Todorvic (Belgrade, Serbia/SMU/USF) led the team with 24 points, five rebounds and an assist.
• Zion Bethea (South Orange, N.J./Delaware) went 5-for-8 from three-point range, finishing the game with 17 points, eight boards, an assist and two steals.
• Dovydas Butka (Panevezys, Lithuania) added 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal.
• Danilo Dozic (Belgrade, Serbia) tacked on 11 points to go with two rebounds, an assist and a steal.
• Boubacar Coulibaly (Bamako, Mali/USC) contributed eight points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.

 
KEY STATS

• Pepperdine outshot the Toreros 49-44% from the field and 55-22% from beyond the arc.
• The Waves also won the battle on the boards, out rebounding USD 47-33.

 
RECAP
Moe Odum got the Waves on the scoreboards after a Toreros two and the teams trades buckets for the first nine minutes of the game. Zion Bethea immediately provided scoring assistance after checking in, hitting his first three point and field goal attempt, and Boubacar Coulibaly connected on a putback to spur on a 20-4 Waves run. Bethea continued his barrage of threes from the last time the two teams met, hitting all four tries to keep Pepperdine ahead. San Diego finished the half on a run of its own and both squads heading into the locker rooms at a score of 44-39 in the Waves' favor.
 
Pepperdine enjoyed a 12-2 run that included three three-pointers from Butka, Odum and Dozic to open the half and the Waves flirted with a 20-point lead within the first 10 minutes. Fouls would plague the home team the rest of the way through and the Toreros would get within three of the Waves but a Jaxon Olvera reverse layup and Bethea's fifth three of the contest would pad Pepperdine up 10 with four minutes to play. The teams would make it an interesting finale, however, as San Diego made it a one-possession game with hardly a minute remaining, offensive play won out, leading to an 88-81 final.
 
UP NEXT
The Waves travel to Spokane Saturday to take on Gonzaga at 7 p.m.
 
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