Lions Fall to Waves by 94-84 : WCC: Loyola Marymount’s Lowery is sidelined for disciplinary reasons as Pepperdine wins league opener for both teams.

Loyola Marymount played without scoring leader Terrell Lowery against Pepperdine on Saturday night. His teammates took up the slack and extended the Waves before losing, 94-84, in the West Coast Conference opener for both before 3,529 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

Lowery, who was averaging 26.5 points, was serving a one-game suspension for what Coach Jay Hillock said were disciplinary reasons.

Pepperdine, defending West Coast Conference champion, improved to 8-5 overall. Loyola is 7-6.

The Lions probably could have used Lowery’s scoring down the stretch, but they still made Pepperdine, which led at halftime, 42-36, extremely anxious for most of the game.

There were nine lead changes and six ties before Pepperdine took the lead for good at 60-57 on a layup by Geoff Lear with 12:34 remaining.

Tony Walker’s seven-foot jump shot pulled the Lions to within 89-84 with 1:22 left. But Dana Jones made three of four free throws and a baseline layup after that to ensure a Wave victory.

Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said he thought that the Lions “played as hard tonight as any Loyola team I’ve ever seen. . . . It was good to get out of there alive.”

Hillock agreed, saying: “I thought we played the best basketball game we’ve played this year. . . . For the first time in a month, we played well.”

He said he would have no further comment on the reason for Lowery’s suspension.

Pepperdine’s Doug Christie led all scorers with 30 points. Wave forward Geoff Lear added 22 points and eight rebounds, and Jones had 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

The Waves outrebounded the Lions, 39-30.

Reserve Steve Guild and point guard Rick Welch each made two three-point shots that snuffed Lion rallies.

Guild finished with a season-high 17 points and had seven rebounds, and Welch, who had lost his starting job to Damin Lopez, had six points.

Hillock started Craig Holt, who was averaging eight points before the game, in Lowery’s place. Holt responded with a team-high 17 points, including five three-point baskets.

Loyola point guard Tony Walker had 14 points and six assists, and Rahim Harris added 13 points.