SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Brandon Gay scored a career-high 34 points and Corey Belser had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, leading San Diego to a 86-80 win over Pepperdine in the second round of the West Coast Conference Tournament.
Gay scored 25 of his points in the first half when he went 7-for-7 on 3-pointers, one shy of the tournament record. He cooled off in the second half but made seven free throws in the final 5:30 when the Toros held off a late rally by the Waves.
Pepperdine, which trailed by 13 with nine minutes to play, pulled within 83-80 on Glen McGowan's layup with 33 seconds remaining but got no closer. San Diego went scoreless from the floor over the final six minutes but was 15-for-18 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the win.
Gay, whose previous career high of 31 points came Feb. 24 against Santa Clara, added eight rebounds and four assists for San Diego (16-12), which advances to Sunday's semifinal against top-seeded and 12th-ranked Gonzaga. Nick Lewis had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Toros while Ross DeRogatis added 13 points and nine assists.
Alex Acker led Pepperdine with 31 points and nine rebounds while McGowan had 20 points and eight rebounds. Kingsley Costain added 12 points for the Waves (17-14), who split their two regular-season games with the Toros before Saturday's loss.
Gay did most of his damage in the first half, despite not attempting a shot for the first four minutes of the game. Gay made a 3-pointer then missed three of his next four shots before finding his mark, combining with teammate Nick Lewis for 12 points during a 19-9 run that gave San Diego a 31-23 lead.
Acker tried to keep the Waves going with 12 points in the final seven minutes of the first half for Pepperdine but it wasn't enough to offset Gay, who scored 14 of the Toros' last 18 points to help San Diego take a 51-45 halftime lead.
Gay finished the first half with 25 points, five rebounds and three assists. He made only one of five shots from the floor in the second half.
