SEATTLE — Pepperdine men's basketball (6-18, 1-10 WCC) suffered an 83-81 defeat at Seattle (15-9, 4-7 WCC) Wednesday night from Redhawk Center in Seattle.

The game saw 13 lead changes and was within 10 points in its entirety, coming down to the final minute. Seattle scored the final four points in the last 90 seconds to prevail at home, as a potential game-winning three fell short for the Waves at the buzzer.

Aaron Clark led the Waves with 22 points and four assists, with Styles Phipps adding 18 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Danilo Dozic (16 points) and Yonatan Levy (13 points) also scored in double figures for the Waves.

"We played extremely hard and did some really good things," said head coach Ed Schilling. "We just fell a little short. I feel for our guys, we were so close again."

Clark was in rhythm early for the Waves, scoring or assisting on the first three baskets as neither team would separate early on. Phipps and Levy hit on early threes, as the score was knotted up at 12 after five minutes of play.

After Pepperdine fell behind 19-14, the Waves used a 9-0 run to push back ahead by four. The run featured three-point plays converted by Phipps and Clark, and a three-point make from Dozic.

Clark led all scorers in the high-scoring first half with 11 points, as all five Pepperdine starters had at least six points at the break. With both teams shooting well, the Pilots took a 44-43 lead into halftime.

The second half saw 10 of the first 14 points of the half coming from the free throw line for the Waves, who hit their first 23 free throws in the game. 

Seattle held its lead throughout the opening stages, with four straight points from Clark making it 53-53 with 14:27 to play. The Redhawks then used a 10-0 run to take their biggest lead of the contest with 12:30 to play. 

Pepperdine began to chip away, with Javon Cooley and Pavle Stosic notching key buckets while a Phipps jumper with 7:29 left cut the Seattle lead back down to four at 69-65.

The teams traded points on the ensuing possessions, with Dozic hitting a key three-pointer, his fourth of the contest, making it a one-possession game with under six minutes to play. A Clark three then made it a one-point deficit with 3:36 to go,

Not allowing a field goal for over four minutes down the stretch, the Waves took their first lead in over 16 minutes of game time with 1:55 to play on a three-point hit from Phipps. A Phipps free throw then made it an 81-79 advantage for the Waves with 1:32 on the clock. 

The Redhawks converted one of two free throws to trail by one, getting a late possession with a chance to take the lead. Missing on a three-point attempt with 12 seconds left, Seattle was able to secure the offensive rebound and putback to retake a late 82-81 lead. 

Pepperdine had a look at the rim blocked next, fouling with six seconds remaining and still trailing by one. After Seattle split the free throws, a Cooley look at the buzzer from three was off the mark to give Seattle the narrow conference win.

GAME NOTES

• Aaron Clark posted 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting, including a 7-for-7 mark from the free throw line.
• Clark added three rebounds and four assists in the effort.
• Styles Phipps registered 18 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
• Danilo Dozic posted 16 points and a career-high four assists.
• Dozic shot 4-for-5 from three-point range, and is now 10-for-17 from distance in the last three games.
• Yonatan Levy logged 13 points to go with five rebounds and four assists.
• Javon Cooley added eight points and five rebounds.
• The Waves held the Redhawks to 4-for-17 from three-point range, matching a season-low from an opponent in three-pointers made.
• Pepperdine shot 23-for-26 from the free throw line in the contest.
• The Waves secured double-digit offensive rebounds for the 14th time this season.

The Waves return home Saturday, playing host to Pacific with tip-off set for 5 p.m. from Firestone Fieldhouse.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Pepperdine men's basketball has made 13 NCAA postseason appearances while earning 12 WCC Regular-Season Championships and three WCC Tournament Championships in its history. This success has spanned multiple decades, with the Waves most recently winning the 2021 CBI Tournament. The program has also seen 19 All-Americans along with 19 NBA players, which included a streak of 34 consecutive seasons with at least one alum on an NBA roster from 1976-2011.

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