Southern Utah rallies past Pepperdine in overtime, 78-69

Dec 16, 2019, 06:51 am

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Cameron Oluyitan scored seven of his 15 points in the final two minutes of overtime as Southern Utah rallied to beat Pepperdine for the third time in four meetings, 78-69 on Saturday afternoon.

Southern Utah grabbed the lead early and led by six at the break, 36-30. The Waves trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half but came back to take the lead on a Kessler Edwards 3 with 6:01 left, 56-54.

Colby Ross hit his third jumper in the final four minutes to put Pepperdine ahead in the final minute of regulation, 64-62, but Oluyitan scored at the basket with a second left to force overtime.

Pepperdine led, 68-64 midway through the overtime period but could not hold it. The Thunderbirds scored the next eight points, including a 3-point play by Oluyitan, and closed the game on a 14-1 run.

Brandon Better hit 5 of 14 from distance and finished with 17 points for Southern Utah (5-3), which closes out its nonconference slate Friday at USC and is assured of a better-than-.500 record for a second straight season for the first time in program history.

Ross scored 24 points and dished seven assists for Pepperdine (6-5).