PORTLAND, Ore.- The University of Portland men’s basketball team ended their regular-season at the Chiles Center with an 89-78 win over the San Diego Toreros tonight. With the win, the Pilots end their losing streak and improve to 11-16 overall, 5-9 in the WCC. The Toreros drop to 4-25 on the season, 1-13 in WCC play.

“I thought we played with a purpose and a high level of energy; I was proud of our effort tonight,” said Head Coach Michael Holton. “We kept our composure when they made their runs. We kept our spacing, got some post touches, some dribble penetration and points off turnovers.”

“It was kind of emotional out there tonight, but it feels good to go out with a win,” said Dustin Geddis. “It was tough losing on Thursday, but tonight we kept our composure and won as a team. Now we’ve got some momentum heading into the WCC Tournament.”

The Pilots honored their three seniors Adam Quick, Casey Frandsen and Dustin Geddis before the start of the game. All three seniors were up to the task tonight. Casey Frandsen opened Portland’s scoring with a three-pointer to put the Pilots up 3-0 early on. A Donald Wilson cram followed and Portland was off to a quick 5-0 advantage. It wasn’t until a made free-throw by USD’s Brandon Gay with 17:36 left, did Portland’s lead close to within one point. With less than 10 minutes to go in the half, the Pilots went on a 17-6 run, sparked by Frandsen’s four treys in the fist half alone. With 1:42 left on the clock, Wilson recorded his second dunk of the game, this time off a sweet inbounds lob by Frandsen. Karl Aaker closed out the scoring for Portland with yet another trey for the team. Portland went into the break leading 41-28.

Frandsen led all scorers in the first half with 13 points, while Wilson followed with 11 first half points. Portland forced San Diego to turn the ball over 12 times and racked up 18 points from Torero turnovers. The Pilots shot 83 percent (5-of-6) from the charity stripe, 33 percent (8-of-24) from three-point range and 39 percent (14-of-36) from the floor in the first half. All 14 field goals in the first half recorded assists, showing Portland’s teamwork early on in the game. San Diego shot 8-of-17 (47 percent) from the field, just 1-of-7 (14 percent) from beyond the arc and 11-of-17 (65 percent) from the free-throw line. Neither team held an advantage on the boards as they both picked up 16 rebounds in the first half.

The Pilots opened the second period on an 8-2 run. Free-throws by Frandsen and Geddis, along with a Geddis jumper and a Dreshawn Vance dunk in transition accounted for Portland’s 49-33 second half lead. With 15:15 left on the clock, Adam Quick’s first trey of the evening put the Pilots up by 20 points. A wide open lay-up by Pooh Jeter gave Portland their largest lead of the night at 56-34. Wilson and Geddis recorded back-to-back dunks around the 10-minute mark, with Wilson catching hang time off the baseline, and Geddis at full force off the fastbreak. With 7:59 left to go, USD’s Brad Lechtenberg hit his fourth three-pointer, he had a game-high seven on the night, to cut the Pilot lead back to 10 points. An 11-2 run near the four-minute mark put Portland back up by 22, but the Toreros kept battling back. They eventually cut the Pilots’ lead back to 11 points, but Portland went on to win, 89-78.

Distribution was key in Portland’s win as four players scored in double-figures. Frandsen ended the night scoring 21 points and shooting a season-high 6-of-15 from beyond the arc. Wilson followed with 18 points and seven assists, while Jeter tallied 15 points. Geddis added 10 points and eight boards in the game. As a team, the Pilots shot 44 percent (28-of-64) from the field, 37 percent (12-of-33) from three-point range and 81 percent (21-of-26) from the stripe.

“It feels great to play well and go out with a big win,” said Casey Frandsen. “I didn’t shoot great, but I got some shots to fall. We were really focused tonight and hopefully we’ll carry that into the WCC Tournament.”

“I’m so proud of our three seniors,” said Holton. “They’ve been leaders, they’ve accepted coaching and they are a great group to have around.”

Portland scored 28 field goals and had almost as many assists (23) on the night. The Pilots racked up 25 points off USD turnovers, 26 points in the paint and 30 bench points tonight. The Toreros edged the Pilots on the boards, 35-30 in the game. USD went 20-of-45 (44 percent) from the field, 9-of-19 (47 percent) from long range and 29-of-37 (78 percent) from the free-throw line.

“It was a concerted effort for 40 minutes, unlike our last game,” said Adam Quick. “We played hard the entire game and we had fun doing it. It was a good win.”

The Toreros were led by Lechtenberg who totaled 23 points. Teammates Brandon Gay and Brice Vounang added 21 and 17 points, respectively.

“The slate is clean and now everyone will start with a 0-0 record,” said Holton. “We’ll see what we can accomplish at the WCC Tournament next week.”

From Mar. 5-8, Portland will compete for the WCC Tournament crown in Santa Clara, Calif.