Pepperdine Douses Anteaters’ Spark

With all the impressive resumes found on the Pepperdine roster, it was left to Marc McDowell to hold off UC Irvine Tuesday night.

The Anteaters made things a bit dicey for the Waves, who have heaps of expectations this season. The talent has come to Pepperdine from far and wide: the Pac-10, Big East, Southeastern Conference. Yet it was McDowell, all but forgotten last season, who propped up the Waves in a 71-58 victory in front of 1,237 in the Firestone Fieldhouse.

The Anteaters (0-1), seemingly out of it midway through the second half, made several runs at the Waves (2-0). Each time McDowell, a 6-foot-7 senior, made a big play.

McDowell finished with 19 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

“People forget that he was honorable mention All-West Coast Conference two years ago,” Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “He’s the type of player who can cause match-up problems. We played him on the perimeter last season, but he is much better inside.”

As a sophomore, McDowell averaged 10 points. Then came Jelani Gardner (California) and Tommie Prince (Arizona State). McDowell went from averaging 10 points to four. This season, transfers Nick Sheppard (LSU) and David Lalazarian (Notre Dame) are eligible.

Gardner had 17 points and six assists and Prince scored 11 points. Yet it was McDowell who held things together. He had 11 points in the first half, scoring nine of the Waves’ 11 points during one stretch.

McDowell stole a pass after Irvine had pulled to within 61-53. He hit an eight-foot jumper for a 65-56 lead with 1 minute 44 seconds left, blunting Irvine’s last rally.

“I’m glad we’re done playing Irvine,” said Romar, whose team beat the Anteaters, 50-46, last season. “They are the type of team that makes you play ugly. They take time off the clock and you cannot make one mistake against them or they will capitalize on it.”

It was a rocky opener for the Anteaters. Their bus got stuck outside the arena when they arrived and had to be pulled free by a tow truck. They then learned that junior forward Adam Stetson, their leading scorer last season, has a torn tendon in his left foot. He will have an MRI today.

Their play was ragged at times, as they used three freshman guards most of the second half. Jerry Green, Zamiro Bennem and Gabe Cagwin rotated in the backcourt, while two community college transfers got significant playing time on the front line.

Irvine finished with 23 turnovers.

Still, it looked promising at times. Pepperdine led, 39-28, at halftime, but Irvine wouldn’t let the Waves run away with it.

Green and forward Marek Ondera, a transfer from MiraCosta College, led two comebacks. Green, who had 12 points and five assists, scored five consecutive points, then fed Ben Jones for a three-pointer to cut the lead to 48-41 with 12 minutes left.

McDowell answered with a three-pointer. It started a 7-0 run that gave Pepperdine its largest lead, 55-41.

“A lot of us had the jitters because it was our first Division I game,” Ondera said. “I had a mental talk with myself at halftime. I said, ‘Stop missing layups, stop turning the ball over.’ Stuff like that. We let them know they were in a game.”

Ondera scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. He scored five points in a 10-1 Irvine run that ended with a Green three-pointer to make it 56-51 with seven minute left. Green then blocked Gardner’s shot and Jones was fouled. But Jones, an 82% free-throw shooter last season, missed both shots.