PORTLAND, Ore.- The University of Portland men’s basketball team had every opportunity to win the game, but missed free-throws and turnovers became the costly factor in their 55-54 loss to the Santa Clara Broncos at the Chiles Center tonight. The Pilots drop their fifth-straight and fall to 10-16 overall, 4-9 in the WCC. The Broncos improve to 14-14 on the season, 6-7 in WCC play.

“You have to give Santa Clara credit,” said Head Coach Michael Holton. “They stepped up in our building from down nine points in the second half, off pure effort.”

With just two home games left for the Pilots, early on, you could see that the team was juiced for an intense match-up. Portland held the advantage throughout the first half and got a great offensive output from everyone on the floor. Portland opened a seven-point lead on a trey by senior Casey Frandsen with 7:45 left to go. The Broncos cut the lead back to four points on a six-foot jumper by J.R. Patrick and a made free-throw by Sean Denison, but that’s when Portland put it in second gear and went on a 13-2 run, opening up a 15-point lead. SCU’s Doron Perkins score three-straight baskets to close out the scoring for the half, but Portland went into the break leading 32-23.

The Broncos out-rebounded the Pilots 19-15 in the first half, but Portland out-scored them 6-1 on second-chance points and held the Broncos to a zero percent (0-for-9) shooting percentage from beyond the arc. The Broncos had a hard time finding the shooting touch and shot just 37 percent (10-of-27) from the floor. Portland shot 43 percent (12-of-28) percent from the field and 39 percent (5-of-13) from three-point range.

Donald Wilson led all players with nine points in the first half. Freshman Dreshawn Vance grabbed six rebounds, while Pooh Jeter added eight points. Patrick and Perkins led the Broncos with six first half points each.

The Pilots sustained the lead throughout the second half until a J.R. Patrick trey put the Broncos ahead by one with 7:19 left in the game. Missed free-throw opportunities and turnovers down the stretch cost the Pilots their chance for the game. With just under five minutes left, the Bronco lead was just two points. Another three-pointer by Casey Frandsen with 4:08 to go tied the game at 51, but Perkins scored SCU’s next four points for a 55-51 lead with just over a minute to play.

Senior Dustin Geddis converted two free-throws to pull within two and with 33 seconds left, Portland had an opportunity to tie the game. Wilson made just one-of-the-two free-throws, but the Pilots had yet another opportunity to seize the game. With 26 seconds left, SCU’s Travis Niesen turned the ball over and Portland’s Jeter had a chance at a lay-up in traffic. There looked to be quite a bit of contact on the play, but no call was made and it was still Portland’s ball with just two seconds remaining. A desperation baseline jumper by senior Adam Quick just missed going in and the Broncos went on to win 55-54.

“They stepped up to the plate and we didn’t,” said Holton. “We had free-throw opportunities, open looks and a chance to put this game away and we didn’t take advantage of that. It was very disappointing for us tonight.”

The Pilots finished the night 20-of-50 from the field (.400), 7-of-20 from three-point range (.350) and 7-of-17 (.412) from the free throw line. The Broncos went 22-of-53 (.415) from the floor, 2-of-14 (.143) from three-point range and made 9-of-12 (750) from the charity stripe.

Wilson led the Pilots with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, while teammates Jeter and Geddis each added 10 points. Vance led the team with eight boards in the game.

“In the second half, they played with more intensity,” said Adam Quick. “They out-hustled us and got to more loose balls and converted their free-throws. It came down to those few things, we let up and they seemed to want it more. We’re normally a good free-throw shooting team. It’s disappointing, but we go back to work tomorrow.”

Doron Perkins led all scorers with 17 points. Perkins finished with 12 and Kyle Bailey led SCU with nine rebounds.

The Pilots will wrap up regular-season play at home on Sat., Feb. 28 when they take on San Diego at 7:00 p.m. Saturday night’s game will honor Portland’s three seniors, Dustin Geddis, Casey Frandsen and Adam Quick.