Pepperdine Pushed but Pulls Out a Victory

MALIBU —  Nothing comes easy for Pepperdine these days. Even a game against a seemingly overmatched opponent can leave the Waves fighting for their lives.

That was the case Tuesday night when Marist, the pride of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and probably best known as the alma mater of center Rik Smits of the Indiana Pacers, rolled into Firestone Fieldhouse and threw a scare into the Waves despite falling behind by 14 points in the first eight minutes.

The Red Foxes rallied to take the lead before Pepperdine steadied itself behind Gerald Brown, who scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half to help the Waves post a 78-67 victory.

It wasn’t the first time Brown, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, has bailed out Pepperdine (7-4) this season.

“He continues to come through for us,” Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “When the chips are down, Gerald Brown is going to be there. . . . I thought he played his best game of the year tonight.”

That’s saying something, considering Brown scored 35 in a loss at No. 2 Kansas two weeks ago.

After Marist (4-4) took its first lead, 41-39, early in the second half, Brown answered by making a jump shot. His first three-point basket of the night gave the Waves a 58-53 lead with six minutes left.

Then, in a two-minute span, Brown hit another three-pointer, came up with a steal that led to a three-point play by center omm’A Givens and set up Givens for a jump shot that gave the Waves a 68-58 lead with 2:52 left. Givens finished with 19 points.

Brown agreed it wasn’t a shining hour for Pepperdine, which plays at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night before starting West Coast Conference play next week.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Brown, who made nine of 14 shots and had three steals. “We had some mental lapses on defense and some turnovers. We wanted to regroup at halftime and come out fighting.”

It didn’t take Pepperdine long to exploit a distinct height advantage. The Waves scored four of their first five baskets on offensive rebounds, three by 6-7 Bryan Hill and one by 6-11 Givens, to open a 12-3 lead after three minutes.

A rout appeared under way after Pepperdine extended its lead to 21-7 on a jump shot by Brown. But Marist regrouped and, following a timeout, went on a 12-2 run.

“We haven’t been sharp since we came back from Christmas break [on Saturday],” Romar said. “Fatigue may have gotten to us early. We got our second wind in the second half.”

Tomasz Cielebak, a 6-9 sophomore from Poland, had 19 points for Marist.

Hill had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Waves, who eclipsed their victory total of last season when they were 6-21.