Portland used a late surge to hold off Loyola Marymount Saturday night, beating the Lions 73-68 in West Coast Conference action. The Lions (6-11/0-2), had closed within 65-63, but the Pilots (8-7/1-1) scored six straight points to provide a 71-63 cushion. The Pilots remained unbeaten this season (5-0) when leading at the half.

Portland freshman Donald Wilson scored a career-high 25 points to lead all scorers, while Casey Frandsen added 13, and Dustin Geddis 11. Andy Osborn’s 18 points and 11 rebounds led LMU, which also got 11 points from Charles Brown, and 10 from Brandon Worthy.

The Pilots had forged two double-digit leads in the second half after leading 41-35, and led 64-55 when Casey Frandsen nailed a 3-pointer with 6:42 left. The Pilots went scoreless for more than three minutes, though, allowing LMU to crawl within 65-63 at 3:02.

Portland had an answer though, getting a jumper from Geddis, a pair of free throws from Frandsen, and a steal and layup from Adam Quick, putting Portland ahead 71-63 with 28 seconds left in the game. Though LMU got a 3-pointer from Charles Brown, Wilson’s two free throws with 16 seconds completed Portland’s win.

Wilson nearly matched his career high with 16 points in the first half, scoring on an array of drives and pull-up jumpers, and added six free throws. Wilson finished the game 8-of-12 from the field, 8-of-10 at the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds, and added two assists and two steals.

A 13-3 Portland run gave Portland a 38-26 lead with 5:04 left in the half, capped when Adam Quick nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Eugene Jeter added a bucket just before the shot clock expired on the next possession for a 40-29 lead, but Osborn scored five straight points for LMU on a 3-pointer and layup to get the Lions within 40-35.

Portland began the game hitting eight of its first 11 shots from the field, and finished the first half at 57.7% (15-26). LMU shot 41% from the field, but stayed close in the first 20 minutes with a 19-11 rebounding edge and five 3-pointers.

On a night when Portland shot a season-low 63% at the free throw line, and were outrebounded 41-25, the Pilots finished the game at 51% from the field (25-49), and committed just 13 turnovers.