RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Junior guard Pooh Jeter scored 25 points as Portland handed UC Riverside its first home loss of the season Wednesday night at the Student Recreation Center on the Riverside Campus. Freshmen Jeremiah Dominguez and Marcus Lewis provided big second-half contributions for Portland (9-3), which improved to 4-1 in road games on the year. UC Riverside (4-4) was led by Larry Cunningham’s 19 points, 15 coming in the first half.

Dominguez scored all nine of his points after halftime, while Lewis added eight second half points and solid defense against UCR senior forward Vili Morton, who was coming off of a 29-point, 13-rebound performance against Sacramento State on Monday. Morton finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, but committed six turnovers amid Portland’s pressure defense and constant double teams.

“This was a good win,” said Portland head coach Michael Holton. “We came in to this building and did what nobody else could do this year in getting a win. There was a great effort from Jeremiah (Dominguez) and Marcus (Lewis) off the bench. Our goal was to win the battle of the boards and we were fortunate to be able to do that against this team. Our execution was not very sharp, but we had players make plays down the stretch and did what we had to do heading into the Christmas break.”

Cunningham, who’s previous season-high was 18 points, made all five of his three-point attempts in the first half to carry the Highlanders. With Portland leading 15-11 midway through the period, Cunningham drilled three straight treys to cap an 18-5 run and give UCR a 29-20 lead. Jeter finished the half strong with nine points in the final five minutes to shave the Highlander lead to 33-31 at the break.

Jeter, who entered the game averaging 24 points in road contests, continued his hot shooting after intermission. The Gardena, Calif. native knocked down consecutive threes for a 39-35 lead. Reserve guard Justin Bell would later hit a trey and Cunningham’s fast break lay-in gave UCR a 49-46 edge with 12:11 remaining.

Dominguez nailed a pair of step-back jumpers and a floater in the lane to bring UP on top 51-49 and Lewis made two nice moves in the paint against Morton for a pair of easy baskets. Darren Cooper’s jumper put the Pilots up 59-52 with just over eight minutes left. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before UCR guard Rickey Davis knocked down a three-pointer to make it a two-point game at 66-64 with 2:34 remaining.

Cooper and Jeter answered with back-to-back acrobatic finishes in the lane with the shot clock winding down and UCR was forced to foul in the final two minutes. With 50 ticks left, Dominguez hit a pair of freebies and Jeter iced it with four straight free-throws in the closing seconds.

Cooper finished with 14 points and a season-high seven rebounds for the Pilots, joining Jeter and Lewis in double figures.

The Pilots out-rebounded UCR 32-28, including a 14-10 edge on the offensive glass. UP shot 46.7 percent from the field and made 15-of-19 from the free throw line, while UCR shot 51 percent from the floor but made just 9-of-18 free-throws.

Portland will take six days off for the Holidays before another tough road test at Oregon on Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.