SPOKANE, Wash. – Portland traded second-half leads with 17th-ranked Gonzaga, but the Bulldogs used a 42-22 rebounding margin to pull out a 91-79 victory Saturday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Junior forward J.P. Batista led all scorers with a career-high 25 points and 12 rebounds for Gonzaga (15-4, 5-2 WCC), while junior guard Pooh Jeter paced the Pilots (13-9, 2-5 WCC) with 22 points.

The Bulldogs converted 34-of-39 free-throws compared to Portland’s 10-of-12. Gonzaga grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, leading to 20 second chance points. The Pilots used the long ball to keep it close; draining 13-of-29 attempts from beyond the arc, but the Bulldogs controlled the paint which proved to be the difference.

Gonzaga extended its home winning streak to 20 games with the win, improving to 8-0 at The Kennel this season. The last GU home loss was a 72-68 setback against Portland on Feb. 19, 2003. The Bulldogs have now won 19 of the last 20 match-ups between the schools dating back to the 1996-97 season.

The road has been unkind to Portland, who fell to 0-5 in conference road games with the loss. At the midway point of the WCC schedule, the Pilots now sit in a four-way tie for fifth-place at 2-5 along with San Diego, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. The Pilots will play five of their final seven regular season games at home, where they post a 7-1 mark this season.

Saturday’s loss marked the second narrow road defeat in a row for Portland, coming on the heels of a 74-70 overtime loss at San Francisco a week ago. Head coach Michael Holton was again pleased with his team’s effort, but found the loss hard to swallow.

“The difference in the game was their energy on the glass,” Holton noted. “Offensive rebounds led to fouls on our big guys, and I felt that was the only aspect of the game that we were not competitive. A 20-rebound deficit and 39 free-throw attempts on the road are hard to overcome. I was pleased with the overall effort and we knew it would be a great challenge to beat them here, but I thought that we stepped up to the challenge.”

Trailing 47-41 at halftime, the Pilots used a 7-0 run after the break to take their first lead of the night. Darren Cooper started the run with a lay-in and three-pointer, followed by two Donald Wilson free-throws. The game was tied 10 times in the second half along with six lead changes, before the Bulldogs took the lead for good on a pair of free-throws by Batista at the 7:45 mark.

Portland sophomore Ben Sullivan, limited to just 21 minutes because of foul trouble, nailed a baseline jumper followed by a three-pointer to make it 76-73 with five minutes remaining. Batista answered with a lay-up and pair of Adam Morrison free-throws pushed the margin to seven. Jeter drilled consecutive long-range threes against tight defensive pressure to pull UP within three at 82-79 with 2:56 left on the clock, but the Zags would score the final nine points to take the win.

Portland junior Donald Wilson scored a season-high 17 points in the game, 15 coming in the first half. Wilson put the team on his back early to keep the game close. With Gonzaga leading 35-21 midway through the period, Wilson hit back-to-back treys then followed a Marcus Lewis lay-up with a pair of free-throws to make it 39-33. The Bulldogs extended the lead back to double digits on a Derek Raivio trey, but UP freshman Jeremiah Dominguez gave the Pilots momentum going into halftime with a 30-foot buzzer-beater.

Adam Morrison had 18 points and seven rebounds for the Zags, while Ronny Turiaf added 16 points and nine boards. Sophomore point guard Derek Raivio had 15 points and Sean Mallon added 10 off the bench.

Sullivan joined Jeter and Wilson in double-figures with 12 points and added four boards. Lewis and Cooper chipped in nine points each for Portland.

The Pilots will next take on Santa Clara at the Chiles Center on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.