MALIBU, Calif. — UALR will return home unbeaten after surviving a buzzer beater by the beach.

Pepperdine’s Jonathan Dupre missed a baseline 10-footer off the back of the rim as time expired and UALR held on for a 66-65 victory before 538 at Firestone Fieldhouse on the Pepperdine campus, located steps from the Pacific Ocean.

At times, UALR (2-0 ) looked like it couldn’t even hit the water, making 39 percent against the Waves’ 2-3 zone defense. But UALR held a 19-8 advantage in offensive rebounds, giving the Trojans a 24-7 advantage in second-chance points.

“I’m extremely proud of our basketball team. We showed a lot of toughness and character in several adverse situations there late,” UALR Coach Steve Shields said. “We’ve got to get better at making decisions and time and score recognition. We had two big turnovers inside of four minutes that could have taken us up even higher.”

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Still, the Trojans led all but one minute of the game while playing before a crowd that included former UALR and current Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher. UALR built an 11-point lead with 14: 52 to play after a three-pointer by Matt Mouzy and UALR still led 62-51 with 4: 36 left after a three-pointer by Shane Edwards.

The two turnovers helped Pepperdine trim the lead. One by Mouzy led to a three-pointer by Pepperdine, cutting UALR’s lead to 61-55 with 3: 52 left. The other by Edwards came on a fast-break attempt. It led to a foul and a free throw by Pepperdine (1-1 ) for a 61-56 score with 3: 06 left.

The game continued its path toward slipping away down the stretch after Edwards missed two free throws with 19. 3 seconds left to keep the score 66-65.

The Waves set up a final play for Mychel Thompson on the right wing. The shot missed and the ball appeared headed out of bounds off of the Waves. It was saved by Ryan Holmes, who flipped it to Dupre. He hesitated, and then turned and took a wide-open shot that missed as time expired.

“It felt good when the final horn went off,” Edwards said.

Mouzy led UALR with 16 points, 13 of which came in the first half as the Trojans built an early nine-point lead. Mouzy made 4 of 12 three-pointers.

Edwards and John Fowler had 13 points, while Mike Smith had 12 points and 11 rebounds before getting injured with 2: 45 left and UALR leading 63-59.

UALR still led 65-59 after Edwards made two free throws with 1: 29 left. With 47. 5 seconds left, Edwards made a spin move in the lane and was fouled, but he missed both free throws. Pepperdine’s Keion Bell scored on a layup to make it 65-63 with 39 seconds left.

Pepperdine fouled Edwards, who made the first and missed the second for a 66-63 lead. Pepperdine didn’t go for the tie, and UALR’s Courtney Jackson fouled Bell with 28 seconds left. He made both free throws for a 66-65 score, setting up the finish.

Bell led Pepperdine with 17 points as the Waves shot 48 percent from the field.

Smith’s status is listed as day-today with the ankle injury. He said after the game he was OK. Fowler also injured his ankle during the game, but he returned to play the final seven minutes. He was limping after the game, but said he was also OK.

UALR led by five points at halftime, but it could have been more. The Trojans had two fast-break layup attempts blocked — one on Mouzy, one on Smith — and had a collapse on the final possession of the half.

UALR trailed only once in the first half but retook the lead for good after Smith made consecutive moves inside to score for an 11-8 lead. Fowler than hit a threepointer in transition for a 14-8 lead with 14: 57 left.

UALR led by nine points two different times, the first coming when Curtis Jackson hit a threepointer against the Pepperdine zone for a 22-13 lead with 8: 54 left.

But that zone was giving the Trojans fits. And Pepperdine finished the half strong.

After taking a 32-23 lead on a putback by Courtney Jackson with 1: 25 left, Pepperdine cut it back to 32-25 on two free throws by Ryan Holmes, who was fouled by Mouzy in transition.

UALR looked as if it would have the final shot of the half, running the game clock down to 8 seconds before making a move to the basket. But as he cut inside the zone, the ball was tipped away.

Pepperdine raced the other way, scoring on a layup by Keion Bell just before the buzzer for a 32-27 score.