San Diego’s Brandon Johnson drills a fade-away three at the buzzer to defeat Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. --- University of San Diego point guard Brandon Johnson nailed a contested, fall-away three-pointer from the corner as time expired lifting the Toreros to a 64-61 victory over the Portland Pilots Monday evening at the Chiles Center.

It marked the second straight heartbreaker at home for Portland (6-13, 1-3 West Coast Conference) after a 60-59 loss to San Francisco on Saturday.

Much like Saturday’s game, the Pilots spotted the visitors a first half cushion only to come back and take the lead late in the game. But Johnson silenced the crowd of 1,567 after going the length of the floor following a missed free throw by Sherrard Watson and drilling the corner three.

“We tried to double him and get the ball out of his hands, but he dribbled away from it and made a tough shot,” Portland head coach Eric Reveno said. “The shot was well contested by Nik (Raivio), he was right there playing as good of one-on-one defense as possible, but as soon as it left his hand it looked good.”

Johnson, the Toreros’ leading scorer at 17.3 points per game, was held in check most of the night by the Pilots. He finished just 4-for-11 from the field with 12 points, all on three-pointers.

Portland sophomore forward Robin Smeulders led the Pilots with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Raivio added 10 points and five boards.

San Diego (9-11, 2-1) ran to an eight-point halftime lead at 36-28 after shooting a blistering 56 percent from the floor in the period.

The Pilots tightened up the defense and quickly erased that margin, tying the game at 45-45 on a jumper by freshman Jared Stohl. Smeulders gave Portland their first lead of the second half on a short jumper with 4:42 remaining.

The Pilots held the lead until a three-point play by junior forward Gyno Pomare with 18 seconds remaining gave the Toreros a 61-60 lead. Watson was fouled at the other eight with eight seconds on the clock and made the front end of a 1-and-1 before missing the back end and setting up the final play.

San Diego shot 49 percent from the field for the game compared to Portland’s 42 percent. The Pilots outrebounded the Toreros 35-29 and had a 29-12 edge in bench scoring.

Pomare finished with a game-high 16 points for the Toreros.

Portland will take a break from league play and be back at the Chiles Center on Friday, Jan. 25 for a non-conference game against Cal State Bakersfield. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Pilots will then travel to Spokane for a Monday game against Gonzaga at 5 p.m.