Portland wins on Senior Night and will play Santa Clara in the first round of the WCC Tournament

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Following an emotional pregame ceremony honoring Darren Cooper, Donald Wilson and Pooh Jeter as part of Senior Night, the University of Portland trio did their part in helping the Pilots cap their regular season with a 90-72 win over the San Diego Toreros Monday night at the Chiles Center.

Jeter led the Pilots (11-17, 5-9 West Coast Conference) with 23 points and moved into second place all-time in Portland history with 1,682 career points. His running mate and longtime friend Donald Wilson added 12 points, four assists and three rebounds, making five of seven shots in another solid all-around performance. Cooper had 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 3-for-3 on three-pointers.

The trio had some help in the form of freshmen forwards Alex Tiefenthaler and Jamie Jones. Tiefenthaler set career-highs with 15 points and nine rebounds, including a monster second half which sparked a 20-1 run and gave the Pilots a double-digit lead. Jones made all four of his field goal attempts and finished with eight points, five rebounds and a blocked shot - his third consecutive quality outing.

San Diego senior Nick Lewis led all scorers with 25 points, while Nir Cohen and Gyno Pomare added 10 each for the Toreros (16-11, 6-8 WCC).

The Pilots will now look towards the post-season, where they will open with a first round WCC Tournament game against the Santa Clara Broncos on Friday, March 3 at 8:30 p.m. The Pilots and Broncos shared 5-9 league marks for a sixth-place tie, but SCU is listed as the sixth seed after beating Portland twice during the regular season. For a complete WCC Tournament bracket, view the above attachment.

On Monday, the story was all about the Portland seniors and opportunistic Pilot freshmen. Trailing 56-51 with 11:38 remaining in regulation, the Pilots went on a 20-1 run over the next seven minutes to put the game out of reach. Cooper started the run with a three-pointer, Jeter added four points, but Tiefenthaler was the difference with seven points, four rebounds and a blocked shot during the spurt.

The Pilots would push the margin to as much as 20 points in the closing minutes before the three seniors came off to standing ovations from the 1,180 in attendance.

Portland shot 57 percent for the game, second best for the Pilots this season, and limited USD to 44 percent shooting. Portland erupted for a 53-point second half, overcoming a 39-37 halftime deficit.