Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
1-1
Pepperdine
2-0
Wildcats fall 69-68 at Pepperdine
11/16/2016 5:13:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. - Pepperdine closed the game on an 8-3 run to beat Weber State 69-68 Tuesday night at the Firestone Fieldhouse, giving the Wildcats their first loss of the season.
WSU led 65-61 with 3:47 to play when the Waves scored eight-straight points to take a four-point lead with 42 seconds to play. Jeremy Senglin knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one with 29 seconds. After two Pepperdine missed free throws, Senglin's game-winning attempt was off and the Waves escaped with the one-point win.
Weber State shot 53 percent from the field, compared to 44 percent for the Waves. Pepperdine outrebounded Weber State 38-29, including 12 offensive rebounds for the Wildcats. The Waves also outscored the Wildcats 13-2 on second-chance points. WSU committed 18 turnovers, and the 'Cats were 5-of-10 from the free throw line.
WSU led the game for more than 32 minutes. The 'Cats jumped out to an 11-2 lead with eight of those points coming from Zach Braxton. But the Waves came back with a 20-11 run to tie the game at 22-22 with under 4:00 to play in the first half. Weber State held a 29-28 lead at halftime
With the game tied 44-44, the Wildcats went on an 8-0 run after a dunk by Braxton and back-to-back 3-pointers from Richaud Gittens and Senglin. The 'Cats led again by eight at 59-51 when the Waves went on an 8-0 run to tie the game again with 6:06 to play. The game was tied eight times and had five lead changes.
Senglin led the Wildcats for the second-straight game, finishing with 29 points and knocked down six 3-pointers to go with five rebounds and three assists.
Braxton scored a career-high 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go along with four assists and two blocked shots.
Pepperdine's Lamond Murray Jr. led the Waves with a career-high 33 points and eight rebounds.Â
"I felt like we outplayed them for most of the night but second-chance points really hurt us and we gave up too many offensive rebounds," said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. "I was proud of our guys for the effort tonight and now we have to move on and get ready for a really good Stanford team."
The Wildcats continue their California road trip playing at Stanford Thursday night at 8 p.m. MST in a game that will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
