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SAN ANTONIO — Junior Kannon Burrage scored a game-high 18 points, but Corbin Moore and Jordan Baker scored 14 apiece to lead five Pepperdine players in double figures and the Waves rallied from a double-digit deficit to score a 70-64 overtime victory on Saturday at the Convocation Center.
Moore’s 14 included the senior center’s first career 3-pointer to tie the game at 62 with 10.1 seconds left, while Baker had nine after halftime to help Pepperdine improve to 3-2 and snap the Roadrunners’ (3-3) seven-game Convo winning streak in their 2011-12 home opener.
UTSA led by as many as 12 in the first half, but the Waves closed the deficit to six before the break and took advantage of a sub-par shooting performance from the field (35.1 percent) and at the free-throw line (61.5 percent) by the Roadrunners.
After halftime, UTSA made just 9-of-28 from the floor (32.1 percent), including missing all five shots in overtime, and 12-of-20 from the charity stripe (60 percent).
After sophomore Igor Nujic gave UTSA a 61-57 lead with 36 seconds left, Baker was called for an offensive foul six seconds later, but the officials counted the basket to make it 61-59. Nujic, who drew the foul, made 1-of-2 at the line to put UTSA up by three. Moore then drained his trey from the right corner to tie things up.
UTSA had one last chance to win it in regulation, but the ball went out of bounds off a Roadrunner with 1.2 ticks on the clock. Pepperdine’s last-chance pass was intercepted by senior Stephen Franklin to send the game to overtime, UTSA’s second of the season.
UTSA made just 2-of-6 at the charity stripe in its first three trips in the extra period. Meanwhile Moore connected on a 15-foot jumper to keep the score tied with two minutes to go.
After a missed field goal by UTSA, Joshua Lowery knocked down a baseline jumper at the 1:17 mark to put the Waves up, 66-64. A Roadrunners turnover gave the ball back to Pepperdine with less than a minute to play. Caleb Willis then made his first basket of the day from the right elbow to push the advantage to four with 21.6 seconds on the clock.
The Roadrunners missed a three and, after an offensive rebound, misfired on a layup with time winding down. The Waves grabbed the board and Willis converted both free throws after being fouled intentionally to secure their first win in the second meeting between the two schools.
Burrage made 4-of-8 from beyond the arc en route to leading the team in scoring for the fourth time this season. Franklin posted nine, while junior Melvin Johnson III, sophomore Jeromie Hill and Nujic scored eight each. Junior Michael Hale III posted seven points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Taylor Darby and Nikolas Skouen scored 11 apiece to join Moore, who pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, and Baker in double figures. Lowery scored 10 and dished out six assists, while Darby recorded 11 rebounds, eight on the offensive glass, to help Pepperdine to a 45-38 advantage on the boards.
The Roadrunners, who blitzed out to a 10-2 run to start the game, used a 12-3 spurt to turn an 18-16 lead into a 30-19 advantage with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. Burrage pushed the advantage to 32-20 on a layup at the 1:33 mark. However, Pepperdine used a pair of 3-pointers by Skouen and Lowery in the final minute to cut the halftime deficit to 32-26.
The Waves got to within one when Skouen knocked down another trey to make it 36-35 three minutes into the second half. Burrage answered with his third trifecta on the next possession.
Baker cut it to one again on a fast-break layup on which he was fouled. He missed the free throw but redeemed himself by converting a plus-one at the 7:44 mark to give Pepperdine its first lead of the game, 48-46.
Lowery gave the Waves a 51-50 edge on a three-ball at the 5:42 mark, but UTSA answered with a 10-3 run over the next 3:41 for a 60-54 edge with two minutes to play.
The Roadrunners host Cameron (3-1) at 2 p.m. on Sunday in their third back-to-back game of the season.
