Riding the Wave: Saint Mary’s Holds off Pepperdine

Beau Levesque seemed to get a layup whenever it was needed for him to get a layup. (courtesy of Andrew Nguyen)

In a weird game, the Saint Mary’s Gaels took down the Pepperdine Waves 80-74 in McKeon Pavillion. I say weird because it was a fast start with the Gaels rolling from the start but the Waves hung in there and aided by some questionable foul calls were still in the game late. Brad Waldow had 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead the home team while Brandon Lane put in a solid performance with 18 points, before fouling out late.

Instant Reaction: Much like in the Pacific team, there was the good Gaels and the bad Gaels. The good Gaels played stingy defense, crashed the boards, hit three pointers. The bad Gaels allowed Pepperdine to drain mid-range jumpshots, get offensive rebounds, and almost force (but not really) Saint Mary’s into making one extra pass or a bad pass to turn the ball over on offense. Whenever the good Gaels got ahead, the bad Gaels came back and allowed the Waves to hang in there.

Player of the Game: Kerry Carter. Carter hit three’s when the Gaels needed to, got huge rebounds, picked up a couple of steals, including one where he had a fast break all to himself and emphatically dunked it to the roar of the home crowd. Had the Waves not gotten back in that game, that dunk surely would have been the turning point of the game as it was a close game and Saint Mary’s went on a mini-run after it.

Turning Moment: With the Gaels leading by 3, Kerry Carter hit a 3 pointer to double the lead. Following a missed three pointer by Pepperdine, Brad Waldow tipped in a Levesque missed to push the lead back to 8. The 5-0 run with 2:52 left gave the Gaels enough breathing room to ride the game out.

What’s next: Saint Mary’s hosts a dangerous LMU team who is coming off an eleven point win over Pacific in Stockton. Pepperdine takes on Pacific at the Spanos Center.