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Four WCC games took place last night, here are brief recaps of them all.
Pacific Tigers 62 at Pepperdine Waves 68
Sophomore Stacy Davis, the reigning WCC Newcomer of the Year, came off the bench for the second straight game. Head coach Marty Wilson decided to put Jett Raines into the starting line-up for his energy. Turns out it is Davis who is bringing the energy.
Davis played 26 minutes (eight more than Raines), during which he totaled 24 points on 6-12 shooting, hit all 11 of his free throws and pulled down eight boards. Brendan Lane and Malcolm Brooks joined him in double-figures with 18 and 11 points respectively. Lane recorded all five of his blocks in the first half, during which time the Waves torched the Tigers.
Pacific has had a balanced yet unspectacular offense all season and that was once again the case tonight. Four Tigers scored in double figures, led by Andrew Bock and T.J. Wallace who scored 15 points each. Tony Gill added 12 points and eight rebounds while Khalil Kelly chipped in 10.
With the win, Pepperdine stays within striking distance of BYU, San Francisco and Saint Mary's.
San Francisco Dons 74 at San Diego Toreros 67
Johnny Dee only needed one three pointer in this game, but he hit four. I guess that's why he's now the all-time USD three point leader with 232 over his career.
This was a close one throughout but a shorthanded San Diego squad just didn't have enough to pull out the upset. Part of that is because Chris Sarbaugh, who had become the team's sixth man, was unavailable due to "non-academic eligibility issues."
For the Dons, they maintain a tie for second place in the standings thanks to some great work from their undersized (but more physical) front court. Cole Dickerson led the way with 21 points on 9-15 from the field. While Dickerson was the game's leading scorer, Kruize Pinkins was it's MVP. He had a near perfect night with 14 points on 7-8 from the field. Pinkins 11 rebounds made tonight his fourth career double-double.
Guards Avry Holmes (15 points) and Tim Derksen (13 points) also hit double figures in scoring. Derksen let the Toreros hang around by missing four straight free throws with less than 30 seconds to play.
Saint Mary's Gaels 77 at Loyola Marymount Lions 58
Saint Mary's, coming off a loss at BYU last weekend, tried to make a statement tonight in Los Angeles. The Gaels ran out to a 14-0 lead. They would have a double-digit cushion for nearly the entire first half. Kerry Carter sparked Saint Mary's with 14 points in the first half, 12 of which came from beyond the arc. Carter finished with a game high 20 points.
The Lions, with super-scorer Anthony Ireland leading the charge, would make it interesting. Ireland, who moved into the 2,000 career points club last week, continued his climb up LMU's all-time list. He passed Bo Kimble tonight to move into fourth place with 2,022 points.
Saint Mary's Brad Waldow (16.9ppg) is developing into a pretty good scorer in his own right, but he sure didn't look it in the first half. With Alex Osborne guarding him, he was held without a field goal until the 14:03 mark of the second half. That bucket came soon after Osborne went to the bench with three fouls. Waldow finished with 12 points.
With the win, Saint Mary's stays one game in the win column behind BYU and San Francisco for second place.
Santa Clara Broncos 76 at BYU Cougars 89
The Broncos went to Provo on a six game losing streak and leave on a seven game streak. Santa Clara was paced by Brandon Clark, who scored an efficient 16 points, and Jared Brownridge, who scored a much less efficient 16 points. Sparingly used Andrew Papenfus, making just his ninth appearance of the season, recorded four fouls in eight minutes of action.
Tyler Haws was the game's leader with 27 points. Three other members of the high-scoring Cougars hit double figures. Kyle Collinsworth had 18 points, Eric Mika 15 and Skyler Halford 12. With the win BYU stays tied for second place in the WCC standings.
The folks over at Vanquish the Foe wrote a more in-depth game recap, which you should check out.
