Senior forward Chris Jackson scores a career-high 12 points for the Pilots

MORAGA, Calif. --- The Portland Pilots suffered their first setback of the West Coast Conference season Saturday night, dropping a 73-57 decision to the Saint Mary’s Gaels at McKeon Pavilion. The Pilots (6-13, 2-1 WCC) fall to 0-8 on the road, while the Gaels (9-9, 1-1) improve to 9-2 at home.

Senior forward Chris Jackson led the Pilots with a career-high 12 points and added seven rebounds off the bench.

“Chris is a very solid player for us,” Portland head coach Eric Reveno said. “He does what we ask of him and tonight some things came through for him.”

Jackson played a career-high 32 minutes off the bench as Portland was without senior center Ben Sullivan, who served a mandatory one game suspension after being ejected in Monday’s win over Loyola Marymount for what the officials deemed as fighting.

Sophomore forward Jamie Jones had 12 points and four blocked shots, giving him 12 blocks through three conference games. Senior guard Darren Cooper labored through a 1-for-10 shooting day, but drained all ten of his free throw attempts to reach double digits for the seventh time in the last eight games.

Freshman center Omar Samhan and sophomore guard Wayne Hunter each had 12 points to pace the Gaels.

Saint Mary’s led 39-23 at the half as Portland struggled from the field and committed 10 first-half turnovers. The Gaels also had a 22-16 rebounding edge at the break to pull ahead.

The Pilots used a 16-3 run after halftime to pull within seven points at 49-42 with 9:14 remaining, but the Gaels responded with a 6-0 run and Portland would never get back to a single digit deficit.

“We need to develop consistency in both effort and performance,” Reveno said. “The first half tonight, we didn’t have good effort and we didn’t perform. Give Saint Mary’s a lot of credit for our poor performance, but it’s on us to bring the effort from the tip.”

Portland, which entered the game shooting just 35 percent from the field away from home, finished the night at 30.4 percent from the floor. The Pilots were 2-for-12 from the three-point line. Saint Mary’s shot 43.1 percent and made 4-of-10 three-pointers.

Sullivan and the rest of the Pilots return to the hardwood on Monday when they make the short trip to Santa Clara and face the Broncos at 7 p.m. at the Leavey Center.