Santa Clara holds off Pepperdine for 72-65 WCC win (Dec 28, 2017)

By AP
Published

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) KJ Feagin and Henry Caruso scored 10 points in the final minutes as Santa Clara held off Pepperdine for a 72-65 win to open West Coast Conference play on Thursday night.

Santa Clara (4-9), which had dropped four straight, held a 29-27 halftime advantage. The teams batted the lead back and forth until a Matt Hauser 3-pointer put the Broncos up 58-55 with 5:56 left. Caruso, Kai Healy and Feagin had three straight layups for a 64-59 advantage with 2:35 remaining. Santa Clara made eight free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Pepperdine's Colbey Ross had two layups to close to 68-65 with 14 seconds left.

Hauser finished with 19 points, hitting 5 of 9 from distance. Caruso added 16 points with six rebounds and three steals and Feagin totaled 15 points while dishing out six assists.

Ross had 20 points for Pepperdine (3-10).