Sherrard Watson

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Two free throws by San Francisco’s Manny Quezada with 18 seconds left proved to be the difference as the Dons snuck by the Portland Pilots 60-59 in a West Coast Conference men’s basketball game Saturday night at the Chiles Center. A desperation half-court shot by Portland sophomore Taishi Ito at the buzzer was wide right.

The Dons continue to have Portland's number with their ninth consecutive win in the series. Seven of those victories have been decided by five or fewer points.

After trailing for most of the second half, Portland got a huge three-point play from sophomore Robin Smeulders to give the Pilots a 55-54 lead with 1:41 left. The lead then changed hands four times in the closing 67 seconds.

Trailing by one with 30 ticks left in the clock, Portland’s Sherrard Watson converted on a knifing lay-up through the lane to make it 59-58 in UP’s favor. At the other end, Portland was whistled for a questionable foul, sending Quezada to line for a one-and-one situation.

Quezada connected on both to give the lead back to USF at 60-59 with 18 seconds showing on the clock.

Portland then went to freshman Luke Sikma at the other end. Sikma went to the hole and drew contact, but San Francisco’s Dior Lowhorn was awarded with the huge blocked shot. The rebound went the Dons way, forcing Portland to foul.

Quezada again went to the free-throw line for a one-and-one with three seconds left. He missed the front end, setting up Ito’s desperation heave at the buzzer.

The win gave USF’s interim coach Eddie Sutton 799 victories for his career. The Dons improve to 5-12 (1-1 WCC) on the season, while Portland drops to 6-12 (1-2 WCC).

“Give San Francisco credit,” UP head coach Eric Reveno said. “They have some good players, a great coach, and they are much better than they were a week ago. I expect them to continue to improve on a daily basis under Coach Sutton.”

It was a game of runs as both teams went through offensive spurts throughout the game. Down 39-29 at the break, Portland opened the second half by scoring the first eight points of the stanza to pull within 39-37 five minutes in. The two teams were never separated by more than six points the rest of the way

USF’s big run came in the first half when the Pilots went through a field goal drought that lasted almost eight minutes. The Dons used a 15-2 run to build their biggest advantage at 26-15 with seven minutes left in the first half. USF would then take the ten-point lead into the locker room.

“We couldn’t get a stop in the first half,” added Reveno. “They made shots, but you’ll never be a good defensive team by simply saying ‘they made shots’. You need to get stops and that was the difference in the game. We were better in the second half, but we again failed to get key stops when we needed them.”

San Francisco’s Dior Lowhorn, the leading scorer in the WCC, scored a game-high 19 points as the Dons finished at 52 percent (24-for-46) shooting for the game. After hitting a torrid 64 percent of their shots in the first half, the Dons cooled off a bit after the break, coming in at 38 percent in the second half.

“They play defense much like Mr. Iba taught me,” said Sutton about Portland, referring to legendary Oklahoma State head coach Henry Iba.

Quezada finished with 17 points for the Dons, while Myron String chipped in with 13.

Watson scored all of his points in the second half, finishing with a team-high 15. Sikma was the only other Pilot to reach double figures in scoring with 10.

The Pilots shot 46 percent (22-for-48) for the game, but were just 4 of 21 on three-pointers. UP found its stroke in the second half after shooting just 41 percent in the first stanza. The Pilots connected on 52 percent after the break. Portland finished 11-for-14 from the line, while the Dons were 9-for-14.

UP turned 13 USF turnovers into 16 points, while the Dons countered with just six points on 11 Pilot turnovers. Portland’s bench outscored that of San Francisco’s 25-9. USF claimed a slim 29-24 edge in rebounds.

Portland next hosts the San Diego Toreros at the Chiles Center on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.