Waves run past Hawks

by Bobby Abplanalp
Wyoming Sports.org

The Pepperdine Waves blew a two-point halftime lead open in the second half to run by the Monmouth Hawks 82-73 in the second round of the World Vision Basketball Challenge at the Arena-Auditorium Saturday.

Pepperdine, 3-3, can claim the tournament championship Sunday with a win over the host Wyoming Cowboys.

Monmouth, 2-4, is now 1-1 in the tournament and will play the Hampton Pirates Sunday at noon.

Keion Bell had a career high 34 points for Pepperdine on 11 of 16 shooting, including 1 of 2 from beyond the arc and 11 of 12 from the charity stripe. Dane Suttle Jr. had 16 points, while Mychel Thompson chipped in 11.

The Waves used a balanced up tempo attack to turn a 29-27 halftime lead into double digits most of the way in the second half. Pepperdine led by as many as 15 points.

The pace of the game was different of Pepperdine’s game against Hampton the day before, but head coach Tom Asbury said that is to his liking if they execute properly.

“It’s always our game plan if we can execute our defense and get some run outs,” Asbury said. “We got our hands on some balls; I think that was a big part of it. We’re a pretty quick team and when we get out in the open floor we got a pretty good chance. We got some guys that can score.”

Bell also said the plan was to be able to get Monmouth to play into their up tempo style.

“We had to get the ball moving and get the defenders moving,” Bell said. “There were a lot of holes that we were creating and we were hitting outside shots too. We were really moving it offensively today.”

Monmouth had four players in double figures with Whitney Coleman leading the way with 20. Teammates Justin Sofman, Travis Taylor, and Ed Waite had 18, 13, and 10 points respectively.

Bell said they have to be ready for Wyoming on Sunday.

“We got to go home and watch film. You can’t compare scores,” Bell said. “The game is all about matchups. They (Monmouth) beat Wyoming, but that doesn’t really mean anything. We’ll have to go home and study and come out and play hard tomorrow.”

Asbury said the Waves need to rebound against the Cowboys.

"They (Wyoming) are really big and we need to handle their pressure," he said. "We just need to take care of the ball, that’s really good for us. Once the ball goes up you got to forget who you’re playing and play basketball.”