Polee Scores 23 Points to Lead Pepperdine Over St. Mary’s, 69-64

Pepperdine’s Dwayne Polee scored 23 points, including six crucial foul shots in the last 2 1/2 minutes, to lead the Waves to a 69-64 comeback win over St. Mary’s Thursday night before 2,563 fans at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Pepperdine (20-8 overall) is in first place in the West Coast Athletic Conference with an 8-1 record. St. Mary’s is 13-11, 5-4. Santa Clara, idle Thursday night, is in second place at 6-2 and plays at Pepperdine Saturday night.

Pepperdine trailed at halftime, 41-34.

But Polee went to work in the second half, scoring six quick points as the Waves went on a 10-2 run to take a 44-43 lead with 16:13 left in the game.

St. Mary’s then outscored the Waves, 18-11, and went out in front, 61-55, with 4:35 remaining.

But Polee went to work again, hitting a layup on an assist from Jon Korfas, who finished with 17 points. Pepperdine freshman center Levy Middlebrooks grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds and added 11 points.

Then Polee started going to the line, where the Waves won the game. They hit 25 of 27 free throws (92.6%) while the Gaels made only 8 of 16. Polee made 11 of 12, including both ends of three one-and-one situations in the last 2:40. His final two free throws made it 69-64 for Pepperdine with four seconds on the clock.

St. Mary’s was led by senior forward Eric Cooks, who scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.