San Diego Knocks Out Pepperdine

Pepperdine made it interesting with a second-half comeback, but missed chances in the final minute allowed San Diego to escape with a 56-54 upset in the first round of the West Coast Conference tournament Saturday night at Toso Pavilion.

After rallying from a nine-point deficit to take the lead, the Waves gave up a three-point play to San Diego’s Ryan Williams to fall behind by two with 1:16 to play and failed to convert on their last two possessions.

Pepperdine’s season ended when Kelvin Gibbs missed a 10-foot jump shot in the key with three seconds left and the rebound rolled out of bounds.

“We had a pretty good shot,” Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “It just didn’t fall.”

It was a disappointing loss for the second-seeded Waves (17-10), who entered the tournament after winning their final four regular-season games, including a victory at Gonzaga, the WCC champion.

But seventh-seeded San Diego (14-13) was confident it could compete with the Waves after beating them, 78-70, three weeks ago at San Diego.

“The pressure was on them,” Torero forward Brian Miles said.

Playing tough defense, San Diego limited Pepperdine to 20-of-52 shooting (38.5%) and forced 16 turnovers.

“What we saw was a great battle between two of the hottest teams in the league,” said San Diego Coach Brad Holland, whose team has won five of its last seven games. “We grinded it out on defense. We knew Pepperdine was going to make a run in the second half.”

San Diego took its biggest lead, 39-30, early in the second half before Pepperdine rallied behind Gerald Brown. The senior guard made successive three-point baskets to ignite a 12-2 run that put the Waves ahead, 45-43, with 9:12 to play.

Brown, who scored 21 points, gave Pepperdine its final lead, 54-53, on a three-point basket with 1:52 to play.

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In other first-round games:

Gonzaga 79, Loyola Marymount 78--Loyola, which has made a habit of turning the tournament on its head, nearly left another top-seeded team dazed and confused.

The eighth-seeded Lions staggered Gonzaga by taking a 17-point lead in the second half, but they couldn’t deliver a knockout, falling on Matt Santangelo’s three-point basket as time expired in overtime.

Santangelo’s game-winner came after Loyola Marymount had taken a 78-76 lead on an eight-foot jump shot by Haywood Eaddy with five seconds left in overtime.

“In every league loss, I had a shot at the buzzer and I hadn’t made any of them,” said Santangelo, whose team won the WCC regular-season title with a 10-4 record. “I missed a lot of them. One was bound to go in.”

Gonzaga (22-8) will play San Diego (14-13) in a semifinal game at 6 tonight.

Loyola Marymount (7-20), which lost twice to Gonzaga in conference play by an average of 27 points, was trying to upset a top-seeded team in the first round for the third time in four years. The Lions beat Santa Clara last season and in 1995.

After Loyola Marymount took its biggest lead, 51-34, three minutes into the second half, Gonzaga chipped away at the deficit behind forward Bakari Hendrix, who had game-high totals of 26 points and 14 rebounds.

Loyola Marymount was scoreless for the last 2:30 of regulation.

Gonzaga forced overtime after two three-point baskets by reserve guard Quentin Hall, the second one with 45 seconds left.

“My initial reaction is, I really feel for Loyola,” Gonzaga Coach Dan Monson said. “I told my kids after the game that we finally won a game we didn’t deserve to win. I give [Loyola Marymount] a lot of credit. That team played its heart out.”

San Francisco 83, St. Mary’s 66--Reserve guard M.J. Nodilo scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half and fifth-seeded San Francisco got 20 offensive rebounds.

San Francisco (17-10) has won four consecutive games by an average margin of 25 points.

David Sivulich scored a game-high 22 points for fourth-seeded St. Mary’s (12-15).

Santa Clara 74, Portland 53--Sophomore guard Brian Jones, from Wilmington Banning High, scored 22 points to help the Broncos (18-9) end a four-year losing streak in the first round.