MALIBU, Calif.-- NCAA Division I Pepperdine used a 12-1 second half run to bust open a relatively close game and get an 84-65 non-conference win over the NAIA's No. 3-ranked Azusa Pacific Saturday in Malibu.
With the win, Pepperdine improves to 6-1 with its sixth straight win. Azusa Pacific meanwhile drops to 5-2 with its second straight setback.
Lance Soderberg led 4 Cougars in double-figures with a team-high 15 points. He also grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds. Josh Dillon finished with 10 points off the bench and hit a jumper with 14:42 remaining to get the Cougars within 5 (49-44).
Pepperdine's Yakhouba Diawara had a game-high 21 points, and his bucket at 12:28 followed back-to-back treys by Marvin Lea and Alex Acker to put the Waves out to a 57-44 lead. Dillon hit one-of-two free throws to momentarily stop the bleeding, but Diawara and Acker converted 4 straight free throws to give the Waves a 61-45 lead with 11:00 to play.
The Cougars got within 13 (72-59) on a pair of Brice Prather free throws with 4:10 to play, but the Waves scored 10 straight points to open their largest lead of the game, 82-59, with 1:36 to play.
"I was pleased with the way we played offensively," said Azusa Pacific head coach Bill Odell. "We were able to get some good looks, especially in the first half. But when we had a chance to do some damage we got careless. We had too many turnovers in key spots, and that will kill you."
Mike Hornbuckle's only points of the night came on a 3-pointer with just 4:32 gone by in the game, and it gave the Cougars a 10-8 lead. The Waves responded with 10 straight points to open up an 18-10 lead, but the Cougars answered with 6 straight points to get back within 2 at 18-16 with 9:31 remaining.
The Waves again went on another spurt in which they scored 6 straight points to open another 8-point (24-16) lead. However, led by Dillon, who scored 5 of the Cougars' next 7 points, the Cougars cut the deficit back down to 3 (26-23) with 6:08 to play. They got no closer and settled for a 7-point (37-30) halftime deficit.
Acker finished with 13 points and game-high 10 rebounds. Jesse Pinegar also added 13 points, keyed by a trio of treys, and Glen McGowan finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
Spencer Foster and Prather each chipped in with 10 points for the Cougars. Foster had a pair of treys.
The Cougars shot just 37.3% (22-for-59) from the floor, including just 32.3% (10-for-31) in the second half when the Waves tightened the defensive screws and began to use their size and athleticism to take over.
The Waves outscored the Cougars, 32-12, in the paint and forced the Cougars into 20 turnovers.
"They are a very good team," said Odell. "We had trouble matching their size and athleticism, especially in the second half. They had their way inside and were tough on the boards."
