Portland senior guard Darren Cooper scores a game-high 20 points in return to lineup

PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland senior guard Darren Cooper scored a game-high 20 points, but the Saint Mary’s Gaels came away with a 66-52 road victory Saturday night in front of 2,154 fans at the Chiles Center. The Pilots (8-14, 2-6 West Coast Conference) have dropped four straight, while the Gaels (10-10, 3-5 WCC) extend their winning streak to two games.

Cooper, who had sat out the last two games with a turf toe injury on his right foot, picked up where he left off offensively going 8 for 18 from the field and adding four assists. Sophomore forward Marcus Lewis recorded his third double double of the season with 14 points and 12 boards. Senior guard Pooh Jeter entered the game averaging 23.7 points in WCC action, but finished 4 of 12 from the floor and eight points. It marked just the second game of the season that Jeter failed to reach double figures.

“It was good to have Coop back,” Portland head coach Michael Holton said. “I thought he worked through the rust of the layoff and competed.”

Saint Mary’s senior forward Daniel Kickert tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds. He became the Gaels’ all-time scoring leader in the process with 1,751 career points. Freshman guard Wayne Hunter added 11 off the bench.

The Pilots took an early second-half lead on a jumper by Ben Sullivan thirty seconds into the period, but SMC would counter with a 6-0 run and never relinquish the lead. A three-pointer by Cooper at 14:06 drew the Pilots within one at 39-38, but Kickert, Ian O’Leary and Todd Golden followed with consecutive threes during a 12-2 run that pushed the margin to double digits.

Jeter trimmed the deficit to 53-46 on a drive to the hoop with 5:26 left, but the Gaels were able to handle the Pilots’ pressure defense and convert transition baskets in taking their largest lead of the game at 63-48 with under three minutes remaining.

“It was a competitive, hard-fought game and I think the difference was that they broke us down a half dozen times defensively in the second half. We had an advantage by getting in the bonus early in the second period, but I thought we did a poor job of capitalizing on that opportunity.”

The Pilots were in the bonus with 4:49 remaining in regulation but were 0 for 3 at the stripe in the second period. Portland was 3 of 11 for the game at the stripe compared to the Gaels’ 10 for 15. The Gaels also made 8 of 16 three-pointers to the Pilots 3 of 9 from downtown.

Portland used a 14-2 run early in the game to take 16-10 lead with 9:11 remaining in the first half, but the Pilots struggled to find the shooting range and the Gaels hit back-to-back three-pointers by Collins and Kickert followed by a John Winston lay up to gain a 27-19 lead. Portland closed the half with a 9-2 rally, spearheaded by a Cooper jumper and three-pointer, to cut the deficit to 29-28 at the half.

Portland will return to action at the Chiles Center on Monday, Feb. 6 with a WCC match-up against the Santa Clara Broncos at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on 1550 KKAD-AM and portlandpilots.com.

NOTES: Portland freshman guard Marcus Carter (flu) and junior forward Chris Jackson (knee) did not suit up.