It’s the End of the Road for Waves

Ruben Douglas scored 25 points and Marlon Parmer led a second-half rally by New Mexico in an 81-78 victory over Pepperdine in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament Tuesday night at Albuquerque, N.M.

New Mexico (21-12) will play Memphis in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Pepperdine (22-9) led, 49-37, at halftime and appeared to be in good shape with a 69-59 lead with 8:11 left. But the Lobos went on a 14-2 run with Parmer scoring eight of the points.

Parmer, who scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half, made a three-point basket to tie the score at 71. He then stripped the ball from Pepperdine’s Brandon Armstrong and scored on a layup for a 73-71 lead with 3:43 left.

The lead changed hands twice before Parmer made two free throws with 1:04 left to put the Lobos ahead for good at 76-75.

Armstrong, unstoppable most of the game and the Waves’ leading scorer with 27 points, missed a 12-foot jump shot from the baseline. Douglas made one of two free throws with 37.2 seconds left and after Pepperdine’s Kelvin Gibbs missed a turnaround jump shot in the lane, Douglas again was fouled and made two free throws with 20.6 seconds left.

Armstrong missed on a 22-foot three-point shot, and that set up a one-handed slam by Wayland White with two seconds left. David Lalazarian made a shot from near midcourt for Pepperdine’s final points.

New Mexico erased most of the halftime deficit by scoring the first 11 points of the second half. The Waves went scoreless for the first five minutes, had five turnovers and committed six fouls in that stretch.

Pepperdine regrouped and Armstrong and Gibbs led the Waves back to a 10-point cushion.

Memphis 90, Texas El Paso 65--Marcus Moody scored 17 points and Kelly Wise added 16 as the Tigers cruised to victory at Memphis, Tenn.

Five players scored in double figures for Memphis (19-14), which opened the second half with a 19-2 run for a 30-point lead. Texas El Paso (23-9) never threatened again.

Purdue 79, Auburn 61--Maynard Lewis scored 16 points and the Boilermakers (17-14) made eight three-point baskets to oust the Tigers (18-14) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Alabama 79, Toledo 69--Rod Grizzard had 22 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to lead the Crimson Tide (23-10) past the Rockets (22-11) at Tuscaloosa, Ala.