SEATTLE, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team erased a second-half 16-point deficit to tie the game in the final seconds, but fell on a buzzer-beater against Seattle Pacific 78-76 Saturday evening inside Royal Brougham Pavilion.

WWU trailed by as many as 18 points in the game and was down 37-21 at the halftime break. With just over six minutes remaining in the game the Falcons had a comfortable 67-51 lead, but the Vikings caught fire to erase the 16-point deficit going on a 25-9 run to pull even at 76-76 with five seconds remaining.

Trailing by two points 76-74, sophomore guard Aidan Rice drove the length of the court and converted a contested layup to even the game 76-76. SPU called a timeout and Theo McMillan hit a turn-around jumper with time nearly expired to give the Falcons the victory.

The Vikings shot 57.7-percent in the second half (15-for-26) and hit seven three-pointers while out-scoring the Falcons 55-41 over the final 20 minutes. Coming off a narrow 91-87 loss Thursday at Montana State Billings, the Vikings endured a slow start in the first half shooting 19.4-percent (6-for-31) while scoring 21 points.

Freshman guard Dennis Johnson III capped a great week on the hardwood with a game-high 26 points on 8-for-17 shooting, backing up his 30-point performance on Thursday after earning the most recent GNAC Player of the Week award. Junior guard Nehemiah Pollard added 16 points and Rice tallied 11 points.

Senior forward Trace Evans led SPU with 19 points on 8-for-17 shooting and McMillan's game-winning shot gave him 12 points while going 6-for-7 from the field. McMillan also totaled a game-high 10 rebounds to record the double-double.

WWU dropped to 11-13 overall and 5-8 in GNAC games, while going 0-8 in true road games this season and 5-10 away from Bellingham. SPU improved to 12-8 overall and 7-6 in league play.

The Vikings (11-13, 5-8 GNAC) close out the home portion of the 2025-26 schedule next week hosting Western Oregon on Thursday (7 pm) and Saint Martin's on Saturday (5 pm) on WECU Court in Carver Gym. Saturday's game vs. the Saints is Senior Night with Garrett Levesque, Dajon Lott Jr. and Janko Drammeh honored prior to playing their final regular-season game in Carver Gym. The complete 2025-26 WWU men's basketball schedule is available online at WWUVikings.com, complete with links to follow the team, updated statistics and game information.

Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and Seattle Pacific:

WWU and SPU split the regular-season series with each school winning on its home floor. The Vikings erased a 13-point deficit in a 71-66 victory over the Falcons on January 8 in Carver Gym. SPU holds a narrow 6-5 advantage in the last 11 meetings and a 93-60 overall lead in the all-time series that spans 153 meetings between the Northwest programs.

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2025-26 season:

Here is a look at the GNAC standings and schedule through play on Saturday. Updated conference statistics and postseason information can be viewed online at GNACSports.com. The top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the GNAC Championships held March 5-7 in Carver Gym in Bellingham.