Men's Basketball Drops Finale To Pepperdine, 71-42
2/26/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Brandon Armstrong scored 19 points and Pepperdine beat St. Mary's 71-42 Saturday to clinch its first regular season West Coast Conference title in seven years.
Craig Lewis added 10 points and Kelvin Gibbs had 11 of the Waves' 49 rebounds, helping Pepperdine (22-7, 12-2 WCC) rebound from Thursday's 73-62 loss at San Diego.
The Waves, who last won the regular season title in 1993, head into next weekend's conference tournament as the No. 1 seed. They will open against eighth-seeded Loyola Marymount, which has already lost twice to Pepperdine.
Frank Allocco's 16 points led St. Mary's (8-19, 3-11), which heads into the conference tournament as a No. 7 seed and will face either Gonzaga or San Diego in the first round. No other player scored in double figures for the Gaels, who lost for the ninth time in the last 10 games.
Up 34-23 at halftime, Pepperdine took control with a 12-2 run starting the second half.
Nick Sheppard's driving layup touched it off, Tezale Archie made a pair of free throws after St. Mary's coach Dave Bollwinkel drew a technical foul for arguing with officials, and Armstrong finished off the flurry with a fast-break layup and a 3-pointer.
The Gaels, trailing by 21 at that point, tried to get back in game and a three-point play by Jovan Harris pulled the Gaels to 50-34.
But Al Minahan hit a 3-pointer, triggering an 18-0 burst that swelled Pepperdine's lead to 68-34 with 4:17 left.
St. Mary's, outshot from the field 41 percent to 29 percent, went scoreless for 7:20 until Allocco made the last of his four 3-pointers with 4:04 remaining.
- Box Score
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