PORTLAND – The University of Portland men’s basketball team gave the Santa Clara Broncos its first road loss of WCC play with a 75-62 victory tonight at the Chiles Center. Senior guard Doron Perkins led all scorers with a career-high 28 points for Santa Clara (12-11, 5-3 WCC), while sophomore center Ben Sullivan paced the Pilots (14-9, 3-5 WCC) with a career-best 19 points. With the win, Portland extends its home record to 8-1 on the season.

“I thought our defense was solid for 40 minutes tonight,” said head coach Michael Holton. “Early they (Santa Clara) played well and seemed to get a lot of second chance shots, but we addressed that and succeeded to interrupt their half-court offense. I thought our defense reduced them to one-on-one play down the stretch. We kept our composure in a very tough basketball game and I thought everyone contributed tonight.”

Portland spread the scoring around as five players recorded double-figures in the game. Assisting Sullivan offensively, Pooh Jeter added 14 points and shot 7-of-8 from the stripe. Darren Cooper tacked on 13 points, while leading the team with six boards. Marcus Lewis chipped in 12 points and also led in rebounding (6), while Donald Wilson added 10 points in the game.

Perkins connected on 7-of-14 from the floor, 5-of-9 from three-point range and 9-of-10 from the stripe to lead Santa Clara. He also led the team with five rebounds and totaled five assists, four steals and one blocked shot for the game. Kyle Bailey was the only other Bronco player to score in double-figures with 13 points.

For the game, Portland held Santa Clara to just 32 percent (20-63) shooting from the field, 10 percent below their average, and just 27 percent (7-26) from three-point range. On the flip side, Portland maintained a solid 42.6 percent (23-54) shot selection from the floor and tied a season-high for free-throw shooting percentage (83.9 percent, 26-31) in the game.

The Pilots won the battle on the boards, 39-35 with five players totaling four rebounds or more in the game. The difference came on second chance opportunities as Portland outscored the Broncos 17-5. Portland also racked up 32 points in the paint and 15 points from its bench.

Leading 33-28 at the half, Portland came out of the lockerroom and quickly cruised on an 11-2 run. The run was capped by a Donald Wilson dunk off an inbounds play, igniting most of the 1,711 fans in attendance. The Pilots led the rest of the way and the closest Santa Clara would come was to within seven points at the 11-minute mark. Portland’s largest lead of the night came on another great Pilot running play. With 2:33 left to go, Ben Sullivan got the ball down low and was immediately double-teamed. Sullivan floated a behind the back pass to a wide open Marcus Lewis down low on the opposite block for an easy two and a 15-point Pilot lead. Portland dictated the outcome of tonight’s game from the opening tip for a 75-62 victory.

Santa Clara led 7-2, early on to get things started, but Portland’s pressure defense created several quick bursts of offensive output. The Pilots went on a 6-0 run in a one-minute span for a 10-8 lead at the 14 minute mark. A pair of Cooper freebies, along with a Lewis lay up extended Portland’s lead to 14-12 with just over 10 minutes left in the half. Portland’s largest lead of the half came at 2:34 when Jeremiah Dominguez drained a wide open three-pointer for a 33-27 Portland advantage. Santa Clara would score just once more as the Pilots took a 33-28 lead into the lockerroom.

For the half, SCU’s Perkins led all players with 11 points. Cooper led the Pilots with nine first half points, shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe. Portland held the advantage on the boards 18-16 and gained twice as many second chance points as the Broncos. The Pilots were perfect from the free-throw line (9-9) in the first half, while SCU managed 8-of-11. Portland also shot a better percentage from the field (42.3) than the Broncos (32.1) and held a two point edge in points down low (14-12).

The Pilots will take on Saint Mary’s at the Chiles Center on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 7:00 p.m.