MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine men's basketball team saw three double-digit scorers, but fell to Santa Clara 89-79 on Thursday night in Firestone Fieldhouse.

Maxwell Lewis, Houston Mallette and Jevon Porter led the Waves (7-9, 0-2 WCC) with 20, 18 and 17 points respectively. 
 
BIG WAVES

• Sophomore Maxwell Lewis (Las Vegas, Nev./AZ Compass Prep) contributed three rebounds and four assists in addition to his team-high 20 points.
• Sophomore Houston Mallette (Alameda, Calif./Pacifica Christian HS) ended the night with 18 points on 2-for-2 three-point shooting and knocked down 53.8% from the field. 
• Freshman Jevon Porter (Columbia, Mo./Father Tolton Catholic HS) pulled down a team-high six rebounds to add to his 17 points and two blocks.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Waves started off sluggish in the first half, going down 11-2 five and a half minutes into the game. Following a layup by the Broncos at the 10:42 mark, the deficit was 12 at 19-7 – the largest Santa Clara lead of the half. Pepperdine slowly chipped away, however, cutting the SCU lead to 32-30 just prior to the final media timeout of the half after a pair of free throws by Lewis. Porter hit a three to bring Pepperdine within one, but the Broncos countered with two baskets of their own to bring the lead to 38-33 with 2:20 left. Following a Pitre dunk, the Waves were once again within two, but a Brandin Podziemski triple – one of his four on the night – gave Santa Clara a 42-37 halftime lead.
The Broncos came out of the halftime break firing, ripping off five points in 45 seconds to open a 10-point cushion in the second half. Pepperdine's biggest deficit of the night came moments later, as Podziemski hit another three to put the Waves in a 16-point hole at 55-39. Pepperdine trimmed the deficit to five following a pair of free throws by Porter with 3:56 remaining, but Santa Clara responded with an 8-0 run to open up an 83-73 lead, icing the game away.

KEY STATS

• The Waves out-shot the Broncos from three-point range, going for 47% compared to SCU's 36%.
• Pepperdine shared the ball a bit more than Santa Clara, accruing 14 assists to the Broncos' 13.
• The Waves scored more points off of Santa Clara turnovers (8-6) but committed more turnovers than the Broncos (11-9).

UP NEXT
The Waves remain home to entice Pacific on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein will have the call on the WCC Network.