MALIBU, Calif. (December 14, 2024) – Northern Arizona Basketball (7-4, 0-0 Big Sky) fell to the Pepperdine Waves (5-6, 0-0 WCC) in California on Saturday afternoon in a 86-76 final.
Pepperdine jumped out on an early 6-0 run in the first three minutes of play to open the game with a 12-6 lead. The Waves' Stefan Todorovic capped the run with a three-pointer off the fast break, creating a gap before Northern Arizona would fight to shorten it as all five of NAU's starters
Oakland Fort,
Carson Towt,
Ryan Abelman,
Trent McLaughlin, and
Jayden Jackson, scored as the Jacks looked to spread the offense.
Jayden Jackson's layup with 10:11 to play in the first frame cut the Jacks eight-point deficit and tied things back up at 23-23. With 11 seconds to play ahead of halftime, McLaughlin sunk a step-back three-pointer to send the Jacks into the break trailing by two, 44-42.
NAU shot 50.0 percent from the field through the first 20 minutes of play, hitting 7-of-14 from beyond the arc with McLaughlin hitting six three pointers himself, shooting 60.0 percent from three-point range. McLaughlin closed out the half with 19 points, followed by Towt with 10 and nine rebounds. Both Fort and Jackson finished the half with four points and four rebounds apiece.
An early three-pointer from Zion Bethea would extend the Waves lead to seven with 17:01 to play, while NAU trailed 53-46. Back-to-back shots from
Monty Bowser with a three-pointer followed by a dunk, the Jacks were back within two while Pepperdine fell scoreless. The three-point shot from Fort would give NAU the lead at 54-53 with 14:58 to play.
Pepperdine entered the bonus with ten minutes to play, while Moe Odum sunk a three-pointer to build momentum for the Waves, sparking momentum while the Jacks were outscored 24-17 in the final ten minutes of play, as Pepperdine closed the game out at 86-76. The Jacks finished the game 42.0 percent from the field while the Waves shot 54.0 percent. The Waves went 15-20 from the free throw line while NAU saw 14 attempts total.
McLaughlin finished with a season-high 26 points while Towt grabbed his seventh season double-double, 14
th of his career, with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Bowser also finished in double digits with 12, going 3-5 from three-point range.
The Jacks will head to Cedar City next Saturday to take on the Southern Utah Thunderbirds before breaking for the holidays until Dec. 30 when Northern Arizona returns home to host Benedictine Mesa. To stay up to date with NAU Basketball, follow the Jacks on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
