Jan. 14, 2010
Santa Clara and Pepperdine battled hard all night and the Broncos had a chance to win it in the end, but Pepperdine came away with a 61-60 win on Thursday night in Malibu. Santa Clara has lost 13 of its last 14 games in Malibu. Santa Clara is 8-12 and 0-3 in the WCC and Pepperdine moves to 6-12 and 2-0 in the WCC. Santa Clara plays LMU on Sat., Jan. 16 in Los Angeles in a FOX West-televised game at 8 pm.
Santa Clara shot 46.7 percent from the field, including 37.5 percent from beyond the arc. The Broncos collected 37 rebounds, four steals and three blocks with 16 turnovers. Pepperdine shot 41.5 percent from the field, including 44.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Waves collected 27 rebounds, four steals and three blocks with 11 turnovers.
"Our effort was there. We fought hard," said Bronco head coach Kerry Keating. "We had two shots in the end to win it. I didn't think Marc was aggressive enough and Robert drove to the basket and there was a lot of contact. We are hurting, there were tears in our lockerroom after this one. Now we are going into a team that also needs a win, too. They lost at home tonight and they are hurting, too. We want to continue to get better and tomorrow is another step."
Individually Robert Smith scored 15 and Ray Cowels added 12 - all three-pointers in the second half. Marc Trasolini and Michael Santos both scored nine points. Santos' parents brought family friends, Joe and Jennifer Montana and their youngest son to the game.
Pepperdine was led by Lorne Jackson, who scored 15; and Mychel Thompson and Keion Bell both knocked down 13.
In the first half Santa Clara jumped out a quick 8-2 lead at 17:19 on two baskets by Santos, including a dunk, one by Smith and two Ben Dowdell free throws.
Santa Clara went up 10-4 on a jumper by Smith at 15:04. But the Waves came back to score five straight to make it 10-9 Broncos at 11:48.
Santa Clara laced together its 7-0 run. Niyi Harrison hit a five-foot jumper to give the Broncos a 12-9 lead at 11:21 and end a four-minute scoring drought. After an errant three by the Waves, Santa Clara worked the clock down and Smith knocked down a three at 10:07 to give SCU a 15-9 lead.
The two traded baskets with Santa Clara pushing ahead 20-18 on a free throw by Harrison.
Pepperdine went up 21-20 on a three by Jackson at 3:50 and then Thompson hit a three at 3:07 to push the lead to 24-21. The two traded baskets again as the Waves took a four-point lead at 2:03, 26-22.
Harrison answered with two free throws to make it 26-24 Pepperdine and a minutes later Santos crushed a three to make it 28-27 Waves at 45.1. Pepperdine took a 30-27 lead to the lockerroom at the half. Smith had 11 points at the break, Santos added seven. Pepperdine was led by Thompson's eight points.
Santa Clara tied it up 32-32 at 16:34 on back-to-back baskets by Santos and Trasolini. Trasolini's two free throws at 15:24 gave SCU a 34-32 lead. The two traded baskets again with the scored knotted at 36-36 at 13:53.
A dunk by Harrison at 13:13 gave SCU a 38-36, but Pepperdine scored five straight to take a 41-38 lead at 12:40.
Cowels knocked down his first and second shots of the night, a threes, to give the Broncos a 44-42 lead, but PU answered with two threes of its own to take a 48-44 lead at 9:22. Cowels hit a third three and the Waves answered twice, taking a 53-47 lead.
Corbin Moore hit two free throws to give Pepperdine its largest lead of the night, 55-47, with 5:42 to go. The Waves were on a 7-0 run when Smith stopped it with two free throws to make it 55-49 Pepperdine at 4:50. The two teams traded baskets to make it 57-51 Waves at the last media timeout at 3:26.
After Bell was called for traveling, Ben Dowdell dunked it home to make it 57-53 Waves at 2:51, but Bell answered with a basket. Two Smith free throws made it 59-55 Waves at 1:52.
After another Bell miscue, a carry, Cowels knocked down his fourth three of the half to make it 59-58 Pepperdine at 1:29.
Two Pepperdine free throws and a Trasolini basket and it was a one-point game with 29.2 when Bronco head coach Kerry Keating called timeout with the Waves leading 29.2.
Santa Clara shot went off the rim and Smith was called with his fourth foul of the game at 5.7 left. Thompson missed both and Santa Clara had a chance with a few ticks left, but Smith's shot at the buzzer was off after a very physical play under the basket.
