PORTLAND, Ore. – Saint Mary's guard Joe Rahon hit a 10-foot runner with 2.7 seconds left to give the Gaels a 74-72 win over the Portland Pilots in West Coast Conference action Thursday night at the Chiles Center. Alec Wintering's 35-footer at the buzzer went off the back rim as the Gaels escaped with the win in a back-and-forth affair.

Portland senior guard Bryce Pressley had a big night in becoming the school's 39th player to score 1,000 points. Pressley finished with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting and made big shots throughout.

The Gaels (21-4, 12-3 WCC) maintained their hopes of an NCAA at-large bid with the win, while the Pilots (11-17, 5-10) are tied for seventh in the league standings.

The game featured 19 ties and 16 lead changes as neither side led by more than seven points.

After trailing 40-36 at the half, Portland rode Pressley who scored six straight points to give the Pilots a 44-42 lead. After the Gaels regained the lead at 54-52, the Pilots used a 9-0 run capped by a D'Marques Tyson three-pointer to take the largest lead of the night at 61-54 with 8:43 left.

The Pilots would maintain their lead until Calvin Hermanson's three-point play gave the Gaels a 69-68 edge. A Dane Pineau layup made it 72-70 Gaels with less than a minute remaining, but Gabe Taylor tied it with a pair of clutch free throws with 31 seconds left.

Rahon held the ball until about six seconds left then drove down the lane and flipped up a runner off the glass and in. Wintering quickly took the inbounds pass and crossed half court with two dribbles and got off a decent look, but it went long.

Portland changed its starting lineup on Thursday, inserting freshman Jazz Johnson into the backcourt for his first career start and going with a four-guard lineup. The move paid dividends as the Pilots were only out-rebounded 35-34 and had a 17-10 margin in second chance points. Portland also committed just five turnovers in the game.

Saint Mary's was on fire in the first half, drilling 9-of-13 three-pointers, but went 0-for-9 from beyond the arch in the second half. The Gaels shot 48 percent overall. Portland finished at 42 percent overall and just 5-for-20 from three-point range.

Wintering finished with 18 points and Taylor added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Emmett Naar finished with 18 points, while Pineau and Rahon added 13 each. Hermanson, a Lake Oswego, Ore. native, added 10 points.

The Pilots will return to the Chiles Center to host the Pacific Tigers on Saturday at 7 p.m. Portland will recognize Pressley and Max Livingston prior to tip-off as part of Senior Night. There will also be a pre-game BrewFest in the Chiles Center Plaza from 5-7 p.m. and a trip for two to Hawaii will be given away at halftime as part of the annual Paper Airplane Halftime Toss.

The game will be televised live on ROOT Sports NW and radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT).