Titans Make Waves Struggle for 71-67 Victory

Maybe this one should have been predictable.

Pepperdine, a team that hasn’t played well with a lead, met a Cal State Fullerton team that plays its best without one.

Fullerton watched Pepperdine go ahead by 15 Tuesday night, then stormed back, coming as close as 2 points in making the Waves sweat out a 71-67 victory in front of 1,806 at Fullerton’s Titan Gym.

The victory was the third straight for Pepperdine, which opened the season 0-2.

Fullerton, which came from 13 points back to upset Utah last Thursday night, is 1-1.

“We haven’t played well with a lead of 10 points or more,” Pepperdine Coach Tom Asbury said. “I guess we’re not into prosperity.”

The Waves were thriving 6 minutes into the second half, when junior forward Tom Lewis hit a 3-pointer from the baseline to give Pepperdine a 49-34 lead.

But Fullerton, a team with only 10 players on its roster that was predicted to struggle this season, launched another comeback. This one fell short.

“It was a little bit of shades of Utah for a minute,” Fullerton Coach John Sneed said. “I reminded (the team) of that. They’ve got a lot of heart. They’re young, they make mistakes, but they won’t quit.”

Pepperdine held a 34-30 lead at halftime and increased it to 6 points early in the second half.

When Fullerton’s Cedric Ceballos went to the bench after being called for his fourth foul with more than 17 minutes left, the Fullerton offense stalled.

Pepperdine scored 9 straight points, capped by Lewis’ 3-point baseline jumper that gave Pepperdine a 15-point lead, 49-34, the largest lead of the game.

Sneed was forced to send Ceballos back with more than 15 minutes remaining.

Ceballos came back, playing the final 15 minutes with 4 fouls and leading the Titan comeback.

The 6-foot 7-inch junior forward, hit a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 10. Less than a minute later, the lead was 8 after Ceballos’ length-of-the-court drive ended with a one-handed shot from the lane, making it 51-43.

“I tried not to think about the fouls, just to play,” said Ceballos, who finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds.

His defensive assignment wasn’t one he could slack off. He was guarding Lewis, who finished with 20 points. Craig Davis added 17 for the Waves.