LONG BEACH, Calif. – Junior guard Pooh Jeter swished a 15-foot baseline floater as time expired to cap a second-half comeback and lead Portland to a thrilling 71-70 road victory against Long Beach State Saturday night. Jeter finished with a game-high 26 points to lead Portland (7-2), while Jibril Hodges scored 21 to pace Long Beach State (1-5) in front of 1,635 at The Pyramid.

Portland trailed by as much as eight points in the final eight minutes, but cut the margin to 70-69 on a Jeter lay-in with 1:40 remaining. The Pilots got the ball back with under a minute left but a turnover allowed the 49ers a chance to extend the lead. Cody Pearson shot a desperation three-point attempt at the end of the shot clock and Long Beach had two put back attempts rim out before Jeter gathered the rebound with less than seven ticks remaining and went coast-to-coast. His contested runner from the left baseline went through as time expired.

“I got the rebound and just went,” said Jeter, with a large contingent of family and friends in the stands. “It’s like when you’re in the front yard and counting down and you just have to throw up a tear-drop and hope it goes in.”

It was Portland’s first lead since the 16:32 mark of the second half. Trailing 61-53 with 8:15 remaining, the Pilots went on an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to one. Sam Byrd converted a three-point play to put the 49ers up 68-64, but Marcus Lewis answered with lay-up and free throw of his own. Louis Darby made two free-throws with 1:50 on the clock, before Jeter scored the final four points of the contest.

"We were swimming upstream for most of the game," said Pilot head coach Michael Holton. "In the last six minutes, our energy and competitiveness reached a higher level and it disrupted Long Beach State's offense. At the end, all you can hope for is to get the last shot and fortunately we had the right guy with the ball."

Portland held a double-digit lead early in the first half as Jeter scored 11 points in the first nine minutes, including three long-range three-pointers. The 49ers chipped away by forcing turnovers and getting easy points in transition. With the Pilots leading by 10 midway through the period, the 49ers went on a 16-6 run over the final 6:35 to tie the game at 36-36 heading into half-time. Jibril Hodges scored eight of his 13 first-half points to spearhead the run, which included three steals leading to uncontested lay-ups.

Jeter finished 9-of-16 from the field, 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Lewis, a Long Beach Poly High School native, scored 13 points and added six boards in his homecoming.

Joining Hodges in double-figures for the 49ers were Shawn Hawkins and Chris Jenkins with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Portland shot 46.4 percent from the field but struggled at the foul line, making just 13-of-22 attempts. Long Beach shot 48.1 percent but committed 20 turnovers.

The Pilots will next host Washington State at the Chiles Center on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 3 p.m.