Pepperdine’s Late Surge Downs Rivaling LMU
By Josh Horton
Jan 16, 2014; Malibu, CA, USA; Pepperdine Waves fans during the game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Firestone Fieldhouse. Gonzaga defeated Pepperdine 70-53. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Fielding-USA TODAY Sports
Pepperdine pulled away from LMU in the final few minutes to defeat the Lions by a score of 80-69 and notched their 6 victory of the conference season.
Sophomore forward Jett Raines got the surprise start over Stacy Davis, and he made Marty Wilson look like a wizard for that decision. Raines scored 15 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, arguably his best performance as a Wave. Brendan Lane was also solid in this game, scoring 10 points and snagging 8 rebounds. Jeremy Major was feeling generous in this game, dishing out 8 assists in the win.
Malcolm Brooks and Davis also scored in double-digits for the Waves with 16 and 12 points respectively.
The Lions were led by the usual suspects. Anthony Ireland led LMU in scoring against Pepperdine with 24 points. He also led them in assists with 4. Gabe Levin pulled down 8 rebounds on the afternoon, a team-high. He also reached double figures with 13 points, as did his fellow freshman starter Evan Payne, who had 16 in the loss.
Keys to the Game Checklist
LMU
(Check) Levin and Ireland Need to Bring the Payne: Ireland (24), Payne (16) and Levin (13) all showed up and did their part on the offensive end of the floor. However, it didn’t translate to a victory, making the check mark look a little futile.
Pepperdine
(X) Double-double: Neither Davis or Lane knotted a double-double in the Waves victory today, but Jett Raines came up big to compensate.
The Bottom Line
Pepperdine remains above .500 with the victory, while LMU slips to 3-7 with the loss and potentially ninth place in the WCC standings if Santa Clara knocks off Portland later tonight.
Down the wire, it was the healthy Waves that looked energized over a beat-down LMU squad. The Lions will need to adapt and figure out to notch conference victories in the win column.