MALIBU — Junior TJ Wainwright scored a season-high 26 points, Devin Askew had 18 and Long Beach State outlasted Pepperdine, 79-76, to win its final nonconference road game of the season.
Wainwright shot 9 for 14 from the field (6 for 8 from behind the arc) and grabbed eight rebounds for LBSU (5-8). Askew shot 6 for 14 from the field (0 for 4 from 3-point range). Varick Lewis added nine points and Austin Johnson had eight points and five rebounds.
Stefan Todorovic finished with 32 points, five rebounds and three steals for Pepperdine (5-7). Moe Odum added 14 points, 11 assists and two steals, Boubacar Coulibaly finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds and Dovydas Butka had six points and 11 rebounds.
The Waves started fast, opening an 18-11 lead on a Coulibaly alley-oop a little more than seven minutes into the game, but Wainwright caught fire from there. He scored two quick baskets to cut the lead to three, then Lewis tied the score with a 3-pointer from the corner. That was part of a 15-2 Long Beach run that was only stopped by a technical foul.
Wainwright went 4 for 4 from 3-point range in the opening half and LBSU led 45-36 at halftime.
Long Beach’s perimeter shooting cooled off in the second half, but the visitors never surrendered the lead. Todorovic’s shot-making ability and Odum’s sharp passing helped Pepperdine cut the margin to two points on a couple of occasions, but LBSU answered with several big shots.
Long Beach led 72-65 after a Wainwright jumper with 3:31 left, but a pair of Odum layups sandwiched around an Askew miss cut the margin to three points with 2:22 remaining.
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Todorovic, who went 12 for 14 at the free-throw line, made a pair to cut the lead to 72-21 with 1:24 left, but Kam Martin delivered a huge shot for Long Beach, a corner 3-pointer to beat the shot clock that made it 75-71 with 41 seconds left.
Todorovic cut the margin to one again on a 3-pointer with 32 seconds left.
Askew made a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left, then Odum made a pair to get Pepperdine within 77-76 with seven seconds left.
Askew made two more free throws with five seconds left, then Odum missed a 3-point attempt in the final seconds.
UP NEXT
Long Beach State closes out nonconference play with one more home game, hosting La Sierra on Sunday at 2 p.m.