STOCKTON, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball (5-12, 0-4 WCC) fell in a close matchup at Pacific (11-6, 2-2 WCC) by a score of 74-69 Sunday afternoon from the Alex G. Spanos Center.

A one-possession game in the closing minute, the Tigers got a pair of pivotal defensive stops to secure the win, after the Waves battled back from a double-digit second half deficit.

Javon Cooley led the Waves with 18 points and seven rebounds, with Styles Phipps going for 14 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Danilo Dozic and Aaron Clark each added 12 points for the Waves, as the quartet of Cooley, Phipps, Dozic and Clark accounted for 56 of the Waves' 69 points in the contest.

Pepperdine forced 13 turnovers in the opening half to help tame Pacific's hot shooting in the early stages, with the Tigers turning it over just five times in the second half.

"I'm proud of our guy's fight and competitiveness," said head coach Ed Schilling following the game. "We were in a position to possibly tie the game in the final nine seconds and had a tough break that didn't go our way. We need to continue to improve and learn from these types of games in order to win on the road."

The first half saw 13 lead changes in total as both offenses were clicking early from the field. Cooley had the first five for the Waves with a mid-range jumper and three-ball, with Dozic lining up a three soon after which made it an 11-10 Pacific lead.

The scoring continued with nine Waves in total logging points in the opening half, with a David Mager driving layup and Yonatan Levy three-point play on a foul giving Pepperdine its largest lead of the game at 21-17.

Clark and Phipps remained active on the defensive end with multiple steals each in the early stages, as the Tigers had 13 turnovers in the first half while shooting 16-for-24 from the floor.

The Waves led 35-32 with 4:34 remaining in the half, as Pacific would end on an 8-1 run to take a four-point lead into the half with an Elias Ralph triple at the buzzer capping off the first twenty minutes.

Cooley led the Waves with nine points at the break while Elias had 10 to pace the Tigers. Pepperdine was 4-for-15 from deep in the half while the Tigers hit on six of 12 looks from deep.

Pepperdine quickly erased the deficit in the second half, with Dozic knocking down another triple to tie the game at 41 apiece. The Tigers pulled ahead by four, with Pacific then hitting three straight triples with two coming from TJ Wainwright and one from Ralph, to take its largest lead at 56-45 with 12:28 to play.

The Waves responded with scores on four straight trips on offense, capped by an and-one play from Dozic, bringing the score to 58-54 with 8:47 left. Dozic continued his sharpshooting, nailing his third three of the game with 4:32 remaining, making it a one-possession game at 64-61.

Cooley weathered a 4-0 Pacific spurt with a mid-range jumper at the 2:15 mark, keeping the Waves within five, eventually getting fouled on a three with 1:09 to play and trailing by seven. Cooley knocked down all three free throws to put the Waves back within four as the clock ticked into the final minute.

Needing a stop of defense, the Waves forced an errant three, but the Tigers got a putback on the offensive glass to jump back up by six. Clark quickly nailed a triple for Pepperdine, putting the score at 72-69 with 29 seconds to play.

With the Tigers missing the front end of a one-and-one and then traveling off a rebound with nine seconds remaining, the Waves had a chance on offense to tie the game. Cooley collected at the wing, pump-faking and getting his defender in the air, with the defender's foot knocking the ball out of Cooley's hands and leading to a dunk for the Tigers to end the game, with the final score reading 74-69.

Pacific improved to 7-0 at home this season with the victory, as Ralph led the way for the Tigers with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Game Notes

• Javon Cooley led the Waves with 18 points and seven rebounds.
• Cooley went 5-for-5 from the free throw line, bringing his season total to 53-for-57 (.930).
• Styles Phipps posted 14 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists.
• Phipps added three steals for his fifth multi-steal effort of the season.
• Phipps continued his stretch of 17 consecutive games with at least three assists to begin the season.
• Danilo Dozic logged 12 points while shooting 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
• Dozic has now made multiple three-pointers in five of the past six games.
• Aaron Clark posted 12 points on 5-for-8 from the field, adding a pair of steals and assists.
• Stefan Cicic knocked down his lone three-point attempt off the bench with Nikola Radovanovic adding two points and two rebounds.
• Pepperdine shot 14-for-15 from the free throw line in the game.
• Pacific's 18 turnovers were the second most against the Waves in a game this season.
• The Waves were outrebounded 35-24 in the contest.
• Pepperdine's seven makes from three-point range marked a season-best in WCC play.
• The Waves had 21 points off the bench compared to 17 from the Tigers.

The Waves return Thursday at San Diego, with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m. from Jenny Craig Pavilion on ESPN+.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Pepperdine men's basketball has made 13 NCAA postseason appearances while earning 12 WCC Regular-Season Championships and three WCC Tournament Championships in its history. This success has spanned multiple decades, with the Waves most recently winning the 2021 CBI Tournament. The program has also seen 19 All-Americans along with 19 NBA players, which included a streak of 34 consecutive seasons with at least one alum on an NBA roster from 1976-2011.

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