PORTLAND, Ore.- The University of Portland men’s basketball team had the game in its grasp, but was edged, 71-67 by the Pepperdine Waves tonight at the Chiles Center. The Pilots fall to 10-12 on the season, 4-5 in WCC play. The Waves sweep the series, 2-0 and improve to 10-14 on the year, 5-4 in the WCC.

“I was pleased with our overall effort, we gave ourselves a chance to win tonight,” said Head Coach Michael Holton. “Two or three possessions made the difference tonight and the ball just didn’t bounce our way.”

Pepperdine seemed to have the momentum early in the first half, as Alex Acker drained a long-range trey for the first score of the game with 18:49 left. Portland’s Donald Wilson responded with a double-pump lay in and was fouled. He converted the three-point play the old fashioned way for a 3-3 tie with 17:08 to go in the first. Nearing the 10-minute mark, the Waves opened up a seven point lead on a lay-up by Derick Grubb, but back-to-back fade away jumpers by Dustin Geddis cut the lead back to three. Pooh Jeter’s lay-in off an inbounds pass made it a one-point ball game with 8:56 left.

Senior Adam Quick racked up eight-straight points in less than a minute, giving the Pilots their first lead of the night at 24-19. With 1:30 left, Pepperdine’s Terrance Johnson tied the game at 28, but the Waves couldn’t defend Jeter’s game one-on-one, and with time running down on the clock, the Pilots scored again. Portland went into the lockerroom with a 30-28 halftime lead.

The first score of the second half went Portland’s way as freshman Dreshawn Vance recorded two more for the book on an offensive put-back. Adam Quick hit his third trey of the game, with 18:17 left for a 35-28 Pilot lead. Portland opened a 10-point lead (38-28) on a made free-throw by Wilson, but the tides started to turn and Pepperdine went on a 14-2 run to tie the game (40-40).

The Waves continued their momentum and extended the lead to eight-points with 3:56 left on a lay-up by Yakhouba Diawara. Portland then closed to within one-point on another old-fashioned three-point play, this time by Jeter. It was a one-point ball game with 31 seconds left, but the advantage was not on Portland’s side. The Pilots had to foul and the Waves converted 5-out-of-6 free-throws down the stretch to pull out a 71-67 win.

“It is always a bit disappointing to play that hard and come up short in a game where we put ourselves in a position to win,” said Holton.

Donald Wilson led Portland with a career-best 26 points off 8-of-17 shooting from the field and a career 10-of-10 from the stripe. Quick tallied 14 points and tied a season-high for treys with three. Jeter dished out nine assists, a career-best for the sophomore, and added 11 points and five boards on the night. Vance also added five rebounds for Portland

“There wasn’t a huge difference in the game tonight,” said Donald Wilson. “We just didn’t get to some loose balls and we got out-rebounded. I thought both teams played really hard tonight, but the ball just bounced their way.”

As a team, the Pilots shot 39 percent (22-57) from the floor, 27 percent (5-18) from three-point range and 82 percent (18-22) from the free-throw line.

Glen McGowan led all players with 28 points and 13 boards, while teammates Acker and Johnson posted 13 points each. The Waves held the advantage in points down low with 30, compared to Portland’s 22. Pepperdine totaled 11 second chance points and 12 points off Portland turnovers. The Waves also out-rebounded Portland 43-24, the largest margin thus far for the Pilots.

Pepperdine shot 46 percent (23-50) from the field, 36 percent (5-14) from behind the arc and 80 percent (20-25) from the stripe in the game.

Portland hits the road on Feb. 12 and 14, facing Saint Mary’s and San Francisco at 7:00 p.m.