PORTLAND, Ore. - Senior guard Darren Cooper scored a career-high 25 points as the Portland Pilots beat the Oregon State Beavers 76-62 in a non-conference game Saturday night at the Chiles Center in front of 3,013 basketball fans. Cooper’s senior backcourt mate, Pooh Jeter, added 20 as the Pilots won their third straight and improve to 4-5 on the season. Oregon State drops to 2-3 with the loss.

"Our senior backcourt is the strength of our team," head coach Michael Holton said. "Tonight they responded to every challenge. Whenever we had stagnant stretches, our seniors stepped up and made plays."

Senior guard/forward Donald Wilson had another all-around solid game as he scored four points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists. His four points give him 1,003 career points making him the 29th Pilot to crack the 1,000-point mark in school history.

Junior forward Ben Sullivan added a season-high 15 points.

The Beavers were led by Jason Fontenet’s 12 points and Nick DeWitz who scored 10.

Portland outscored the Beavers 45-27 in the second period and shot 46 percent from the field while limiting Oregon State to 32 percent for the game.

Trailing 47-41 midway through the second period, the Pilots went on an 11-4 run to gain their first lead since late in the first half. Portland made seven consecutive free throws during the stretch after converting just 2 of 9 from the charity stripe in the first period.

A pair of free throws by OSU senior Chris Stephens tied the game at 59-59 with 4:40 remaining in regulation. Cooper answered with a quick-trigger three from the left side and Jeter followed with four free throws and a three-pointer to push the margin to 69-59 with 1:34 left. The Pilots made their final six free throw attempts to seal the win.

The Pilots had the range from long distance, converting 50 percent (9 of 18) of their three-point attempts. The Pilot defense kept the Beavers in check as Oregon State tied a season-low in points with 62. The Pilots also gained their most decisive rebounding advantage over any team this season with a 42-29 edge on the boards. The game featured seven ties and 12 lead changes.

"We rebounded as well as we have all year in the second half and our defense collectively dug down and made some huge stops," added Holton. "I couldn’t be more proud of our competitive effort down the stretch."

Portland will look for its fourth consecutive win when the team travels to Pullman, Wash. on Saturday, Dec. 17 for a 2 p.m. game against the Washington State Cougars. The road trip continues on Monday, Dec. 19 at Montana State at 6 p.m. Portland will host the University of Oregon on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Chiles Center.

NOTES:
The 2005 NCAA Division I National Champion University of Portland women’s soccer team was honored at halftime and received a rousing ovation from the bi-partisan crowd.