Pepperdine Defense Does In Portland

Pepperdine opened West Coast Conference play with a defensive stand Friday night, clamping down on Portland for what must have seemed an eternity to the Pilots.

During the game’s pivotal stretch, the Waves held Portland without a field goal for more than 12 minutes on their way to a 72-47 victory before 1,721 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.

Pepperdine’s 25-3 run turned a seven-point deficit with eight minutes left in the first half into a 45-30 lead four minutes into the second half. That was all the Waves (9-4) needed to extend their winning streak for four games and improve to 6-0 at home.

“The defensive end is what did it for us,” Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “[It] was something that was much-needed because in the last three or four ballgames we didn’t play the type of defense we can play.”

Jelani Gardner led Pepperdine with 17 points, including two alley-oop dunks, and backcourt partner Gerald Brown added 15.

Portland (7-6), after making 11 of its first 18 shots, made only five of its last 31 shots to finish 16 of 49 (32.7%). The Pilots were five of 24 in the second half.

“We hit a point where we gave up too many offensive boards,” said Portland Coach Rob Chavez, whose team was outrebounded, 45-27. “And we didn’t get the ball inside enough. We settled for too many outside jump shots.”

Pepperdine plays host to Gonzaga tonight at 5.