Wcc

Santa Clara 79, St. Mary’s 65

Steve Nash’s 22 points paced Santa Clara as the Broncos took over sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference with a win over St. Mary’s (11-2 overall, 4-7 WCC) on Wednesday night in Moraga, Calif.

Nash scored 17 in the first half as the Broncos (17-6, 8-3) took control early. Marlon Garnett scored 15 points off the bench and Brendan Graves added 11 points and 12 rebounds for Santa Clara, which gained a half-game lead over idle Gonzaga.

Santa Clara (17-6) - Sedlock 1-4 4-4 6, Dunne 1-2 0-2 2, Graves 4-9 3-4 11, Nash 6-18 6-6 22, Pierce 4-10 0-0 8, Anderson 1-2 0-0 3, Willett 0-0 3-4 3, Coleman 0-0 0-0 0, Garnett 5-8 4-5 15, Zurek 3-5 0-0 9, Von Buchwaldt 0-7 0-2 0. Totals 25-65 20-27 79.

St. Mary’s (11-12) - Steele 4-8 2-4 10, Gilmore 1-5 0-0 3, Horton 2-6 4-4 8, Sivulich 5-14 0-0 14, Unruh 2-10 0-0 5, Schraeder 0-2 1-2 1, Knight 3-7 1-5 9, Sufi 0-2 0-0 0, Knapp 0-1 0-0 0, Dodic 0-0 0-0 0, Millard 6-10 3-6 15. Totals 23-65 11-21 65.

Halftime-Santa Clara 42, St. Mary’s 28.

LMU 74, Pepperdine 64

In Malibu, Calif., Jimmy Williamson and Ime Oduouk each scored 20 points to lead the Lions (16-8, 6-5) over the Waves (9-14, 2-9).

The Lions attack included Mike O’Quinn’s free throw with 31 seconds left to give Loyola a 12-point lead. Before that, a layup by Terryl Woolery made it 67-54, Loyola’s biggest lead of the game.

Loyola Marymount (16-8) - Ammerman 2-7 4-4 9, Hotopp 2-5 2-2 6, Oduok 6-12 8-12 20, O’Quinn 4-7 7-9 15, Williamson 7-12 4-4 20, Kennedy 1-2 0-0 2, Woolery 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 23-50 25-31 74.

Pepperdine (9-14) - Hill 4-11 3-6 11, Van Der Putten 2-7 1-2 5, Hervey 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 4-14 5-6 13, Brown 7-11 6-7 20, Griffin 0-1 0-0 0, Archie 5-12 0-0 11, Bragg 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 23-59 17-23 64.

Halftime-Loyola Marymount 33, Pepperdine 33.