PORTLAND, Ore. – The San Francisco Dons made 11-of-24 three-pointers to snap a four-game losing streak with an 89-77 win over the Portland Pilots Saturday afternoon at the Chiles Center. Portland senior guard Kevin Bailey scored a team-high 20 points, while freshman guard Devin Watson finished with 21 to lead the Dons.
The Pilots (11-6, 2-3 WCC) were without junior guard Bryce Pressley (concussion) and have lost senior center Riley Barker for the season with a knee injury suffered Thursday versus Santa Clara.
Thomas van der Mars added 12 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore point guard Alec Wintering had 12 points and eight assists for the Pilots. Freshman D'Marques Tyson came off the bench to drill four three-pointers as well.
Bailey, who missed eight games with a foot injury before returning to the lineup on Thursday, also added five rebounds and four assists.
The Dons (8-10, 2-4), who came into the game as the third worst free throw shooting team in the nation, finished 28-for-32 at the foul line, while the Pilots were just 17-of-25 overall.
San Francisco led for most of the contest and used an 11-0 run early in the second half to grab a double-digit lead. Senior forward Kruize Pinkins hit two of his four three-pointers during the run.
The margin grew to 17 points on a jumper from Mark Tollefsen with 8:31 left, but the Pilots were able to cut the deficit to seven in the final minutes. The Dons continued to convert at the free throw line to keep the game out of reach.
Pinkins finished with 18 points, while Tollefsen and Tim Derksen added 15 apiece for the Dons.
Portland freshmen Jason Todd, Gabe Taylor and Tyson provided a boost off the bench. Tyson finished with 12 points, Taylor had eight points, and Todd added seven points and five rebounds.
The Pilots shot 50 percent from the field, but were just 6-of-18 from three-point range. USF also held a slight rebounding advantage, 30-29.
Portland will now hit the road for a pair of games in Southern California. The Pilots take on Loyola Marymount on Thursday at 7 p.m. and then Pepperdine on Saturday at 5 p.m. Thursday's game will be live on TheW.tv, while Saturday's game is televised on Time Warner Cable SportsNet. Radio coverage for both games begin 30 minutes prior to tip-off on Sports 910 (KMTT).