LARAMIE, WYO. - Despite 20 points from Whitney Coleman, Travis Taylor's second straight double-double and five three-pointers from Justin Sofman, the Monmouth men's basketball team fell to Pepperdine University 82-73, in its second contest in the 2009 World Vision Challenge, at the Arena-Auditorium on Saturday.

Coleman, who scored a team-high 24 points in the Hawks' victory over host Wyoming the night before, went 6-for-12 from the field for his second straight 20-point outing. Taylor, who added 13 points and 10 rebounds recorded his third career double-double, while Sofman tied a season-best with his five treys, and eight rebounds. Ed Waite added 10 points for the Blue and White, while James Hett (who has played all 80 minutes in the two games so far) notched eight assists and four boards. Mike Myers Keitt chipped in nine points and three rebounds off the bench for the Hawks.

Monmouth snared an early 6-3 edge as Sofman drained consecutive three-pointers within a minute, but the Waves responded with a 10-2 spurt - five of which came from the free throw line - to take a 13-8 lead with 13:50 remaining.

Sofman's third trifecta off an inbounds play, pulled the Hawks within 13-11 with 9:25 showing and Myers Keitt's traditional three-point play made the score 15-14 at 8:02.

Pepperdine took a 19-16 advantage on Keion Bell's offensive rebound and putback, but the Hawks answered with a Taylor basket off a feed from Coleman to tie the score at 19-19 and took a 22-21 lead on Sofman's wing trey with 4:05 left until the break.

Monmouth extended its lead to 23-21 on a Taylor free throw, but the Waves outscored the Hawks 8-4 to end the stanza, and take a 29-27 lead at the half. Pepperdine went ahead 28-23, after back-to-back three-pointers, but a Taylor dunk, and Coleman's long two-pointer with 2.0 seconds left, pulled the Hawks within a pair at the break.

Both teams hit three's out of the break, and Coleman's second trey of the half trimmed the lead to 34-33 with 18:55 on the clock. The Waves then scored the next seven points to grab a 41-33 advantage with 17:11 showing.

Pepperdine put together a 12-5 run to grab a 15-point advantage with 11:52 remaining, as the Waves took a 53-38 lead on Mychel Thompson's three-point play.

Six points from Sofman, including his fifth three-pointer, and a layup from Myers Keitt pulled Monmouth within 55-46 with just under nine minutes to play.

After Myers Keitt's two free throws trimmed the lead to 57-48 with 8:11 left, back-to-back Bell baskets reclaimed a 61-48 advantage for the Waves. Coleman netted the next five points for the Hawks, as Monmouth climbed within 61-53 with 5:52 left in the game.

Taylor, who was fouled after tracking down an offensive rebound, connected on a pair of free throws to make the score 63-56 with 4:36 showing.

Coleman's three-pointer with 1:50 on the clock pulled the Hawks within 72-65, and a Waite lay-in made the tally 78-73 with 21.0 ticks left, but Pepperdine made four free throws in the final seconds to hold on for the 82-73 win.

Bell, who scored 24 second-half points, netted a game-high 34 points for the Waves (3-3).

Monmouth (2-4) returns to action in the 2009 World Vision Basketball Challenge, on Sunday, when the Hawks face Hampton at noon.

The naming rights to the tournament were donated to World Vision by Basketball Travelers, Inc. As a Christian humanitarian organization, World Vision aims to contribute to a 75 percent reduction in malaria cases, with the end goal of nearly zero preventable malaria deaths by 2015. World Vision works in 62 malaria-endemic countries, 23 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.