PORTLAND, Ore.- The University of Portland men’s basketball team matched bucket for bucket against WCC rival and No. 15 ranked Gonzaga, but ran out of steam in the final five minutes of the game and fell, 80-65 in front of 4,834 fans at the Chiles Center tonight Portland drops to 8-10 overall, 2-3 in WCC play, while Gonzaga improves to a perfect 5-0 WCC mark, 15-2 on the season.

“I thought we competed hard,” said Portland Head Coach Michael Holton. “They wore us down as the game progressed and that was the difference. Their energy allowed them to run away with it down the stretch. I thought we did everything we could to give us an opportunity to win that game and I’m proud of that.”

“In the last seven minutes of the game we did’t stick to our defensive game plan, we were not high enough in the low post area,” said Pooh Jeter. “We didn’t play together on offense for the last five minutes of the game. The first 35 minutes we played together and we need to play like that every game, for the whole 40 minutes.”

Ronny Turiaf shot 8-of-10 from the field and scored 21 points, while Blake Stepp chipped in 19 points and made all 10 of his free throws, including six in the final 90 seconds, as the Bulldogs won their eighth straight game overall. Cory Violette scored 17 points for the 'Zags and posted double-figures for the eighth straight game.

“We showed great poise against a tough team,” said Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Few. “I thought we were as efficient as we could have been down the stretch, offensively and defensively. We weathered more than a few storms.”

With the win, Gonzaga avenged last season's home loss to the Pilots, which snapped the Bulldogs' 21-game home winning streak against conference foes. The Bulldogs also won for the 50th time in their history when they entered a game ranked (50-10).

Pooh Jeter led the Pilots with 18 points, as Portland lost its last eighth straight game at home to Gonzaga. Donald Wilson was Portland's other double-digit scorer with 15. Senior Dustin Geddis tallied a season-best 13 boards on the night.

“We were worn down at the end of the game, but despite the ending results, we still had fun,” said Donald Wilson. “It was a nice crowd and a good college atmosphere. This game was a real learning experience that we can take with us in future high profile games.”

Gonzaga shot 51 percent (25-of-49) from the field, while Portland had a rougher go of it at 36 percent (24-of-66).

Jeter drained a three-pointer from the right wing with nine minutes left in the game to put the Pilots on top, 54-53. Stepp converted a lay up and Turiaf would score the next four points to get back the lead for Gonzaga at 59-54.

Jeter would knock down another trey from the right wing to get Portland back to within two at 59-57. Gonzaga answered the Pilots' surge with a 6-0 run to go up 65-57 with six minutes left.

A 16-foot jumper by Jeter brought Portland within six at 67-61 with five minutes remaining in the game. However, that was the closest Portland would come in its upset bid.

Turiaf's lay up ignited an 11-0 burst by the Bulldogs over a four minute span to grab a 78-61 advantage with a minute left. Portland had two possessions in the final 60 seconds in which they had multiple shots, but only one would drop.

Stepp knocked down four consecutive free throws in the last 60 seconds to put the game away.

“They spread us out and made us chase them on defense,” said Holton. “We just couldn’t get a run going late in the game. We couldn’t get any quality shots there at the end and you have to credit their defense. We just put forth so much of an effort to defend, we ran out of gas.”

Jeter drained two three-pointers to total six of Portland's first nine points, as the Pilots held a 9-5 lead nearly four minutes into the contest.

Turiaf made a lay up to tie it at 13, as his field goal sparked an 11-2 spurt by the Bulldogs to go on top, 22-15, with 11:26 left in the half.

Gonzaga led 39-30 with two minutes remaining until halftime, but Wilson scored the next five Pilot points, which was part of an 8-0 burst, as Portland went into the break only trailing 39-38.

On Thurs., Jan. 29, Portland will take on Santa Clara at 7:00 p.m. on the road and face San Diego on Sat., Jan. 31 at 7:00 p.m. in San Diego, Calif.