SPOKANE, Wash. – The undefeated No. 4 Gonzaga Bulldogs pulled away late for a 73-52 victory after a spirited effort from the short-handed Portland Pilots on Saturday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Playing their first game without their captain and leading scorer, the Pilots trailed by seven early in the second half before the Bulldogs stretched the margin late.

Portland found out on Saturday afternoon that All-West Coast Conference senior point guard Alec Wintering was lost for the season with a torn ACL suffered in Thursday night's game at San Francisco. Wintering was the team leader and among the conference leaders in scoring (19.5), assists (5.6), steals (2.0) and minutes per game (37.1).

The Pilots (9-10, 2-5 WCC) rallied despite his absence and out-rebounded the Bulldogs (19-0, 7-0) by a 41-33 margin, including a season-high 21 offensive rebounds.

Junior forward Gabe Taylor scored a team-high 13 points, all in the second half, while Jazz Johnson finished with 12 points and Rashad Jackson scored 10 in his first start of the season. Freshman point guard Andre Ferguson made his first career start and added five points in 23 minutes.

After a nervy opening gave the Bulldogs a 12-1 lead, Portland played the hosts even the rest of the half behind a balanced effort. The Pilots held Gonzaga without a field goal over the final 3:34 of the half. Ray Barreno had three put-backs for six points, while Johnson and D'Marques Tyson also added six points each as the Pilots trailed 34-23 at the break.

Consecutive jumpers by Taylor to open the second half cut the deficit to 38-31, but the Zags responded with six straight points to push the margin back to double digits. The margin continued to grow as the Pilots wore down late.

Gonzaga shot 45 percent on the night and made 7-of-22 three-pointers, while Portland finished at 32 percent overall and just 3-of-12 from three-point range. Gonzaga blocked nine shots and also gained a 17-10 edge in points off of turnovers.

Nigel Williams-Goss scored a team-high 15 points for the Bulldogs, but left the court late in regulation after taking a hard fall.

The Pilots and Bulldogs will now trek back to Portland to play again on Monday at 5 p.m. at the Chiles Center. That is a rescheduled game after the original Jan. 7 contest was postponed due to inclement weather. Tickets purchased for the Jan. 7 game will be honored and the game is sold out.