Saint Mary’s Rides Pepperdine to Advance in WCC Tournament
By Josh Horton
The Saint Mary’s Gaels advanced to the semifinals of the WCC tournament today when they defeated the Pepperdine Waves by a score of 80 to 69.
The Gaels opened up a 41-28 at the end of the first half due to hot shooting from beyond the arc. Saint Mary’s was able to maintain a lead roughly of this margin and coast to victory.
The 4-seeded Gaels were led by Brad Waldow, who scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the win. Forward Beau Levesque chipped in 15 points as well as leading the team in assists with four. Stephen Holt and Kerry Carter both finished in double figures with 15 and 10 points respectively.
Pepperdine’s major contribution tonight came from Amadi Udenyi, who led the team in scoring with 13 points. Atif Russell and Stacy Davis came down with fove rebounds apiece to lead the Waves. Senior Brendan Lane had an uncharacteristically mild game today with only eight points and three rebounds while leading the team in Assists with four. Davis and Brooks round out Pepperdine double digit scorers with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Keys to the Game Checklist
Saint Mary’s
(Check) Scoring outside of Waldow/Holt
While Holt and Waldow were the Gaels two leading scorers today, Levesque, Carter and Walker III played solid today. The trio combined to go for 33 points on 12 of 28 shooting.
Pepperdine
(X) Use the Davis/Levesque matchup
Davis did not have a particularly great game, scoring only 12 points on 12 shots. Levesque did a good job limiting the sophomore forward today.
Key Matchup Revisited
Malcolm Brooks vs. James Walker III (Adv. Brooks)
Despite his team losing, Brooks was the more efficient player today going four of six from the field and scoring 10 points opposed to scoring eight points on three of eight shooting like Walker did today.
Player of the Game
Brad Waldow
Waldow dominated a primarily big men oriented team in Pepperdine by dropping 21 points and grabbing eight boards.
Moving Forward
The Gaels take on archrival Gonzaga in the semifinals with their win tonight. The game will take place at 6:00 p.m. PST Monday night.
Pepperdine’s season is likely over, unless their resume can earn them a berth into a tournament such as the CIT or CBI. Otherwise, the Waves say goodbye to three seniors – Brendan Lane, Nikolas Skouen and Malte Kramer.