Senior guard Pooh Jeter scores a season-high 29 points in the loss

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Travis Niesen and John Bryant combined for 34 points and 23 rebounds to lead the Santa Clara Broncos to an 87-77 victory over the Portland Pilots in the West Coast Conference opener for both schools at the Leavey Center Saturday night.

The Broncos (8-5, 1-0 WCC) outrebounded the Pilots by a 43-23 margin for the game and made 35 of 41 free throws to Portland’s 16 of 18 at the charity stripe.

“The difference in the game was rebounding,” Portland head coach Michael Holton said. “Their second shots and rebounds off missed free throws proved too much to overcome.”

The Pilots (6-9, 0-1 WCC) played without leading rebounder Marcus Lewis (10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds) who was suspended for the game after missing a practice over the Holiday break. Lewis will return to action on Monday at Saint Mary’s.

Senior guard Pooh Jeter led Portland with a season-high 29 points, while fellow seniors Donald Wilson and Darren Cooper added 12 and 11, respectively.

“I thought our seniors played hard and set the tone from a competitive standpoint,” Holton noted.

Neisen, who entered the game as the WCC’s second leading scorer at 20.3 points per game, was held to 3 of 12 shooting from field but made 13 of 14 free throw attempts to finish with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman center John Bryant added 15 points and 13 rebounds, connecting on 7 of 8 attempts from the field.

Bryant’s biggest shot came with 3:23 remaining in regulation. SCU called a timeout with the Pilots rallying and trimming a 10-point deficit to four at 73-69. The Broncos had the ball side out-of-bounds with only one second on the shot clock. Bryant took the inbounds pass and made a 12-foot jumper to push the margin back to six.

SCU made their final eight free throws to clinch the win.

After leading most of the first half, Portland surrendered a 13-4 run over the final 5:32 to give SCU a 39-36 halftime lead.

The Broncos extended the lead to nine with two quick three-pointers after the break, but Jeter did his part to bring the game within reach by scoring 21 second-half points.

Portland will look for a road split when they face Saint Mary’s on Monday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on FSN Northwest and broadcast on 1550 KKAD in the Portland-metro area.