SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The San Francisco Dons jumped out to a big lead early and then withstood a second half barrage by Portland for an 81-65 victory Thursday night in West Coast Conference basketball action at the Sobrato Center.

Juniors Tahirou Diabate and JoJo Walker finished with 17 points each to lead the Pilots (9-21, 1-14 WCC). Takiula Fahrensohn added 11 points off the bench.

The Pilots were without leading scorer Isaiah White who missed his second straight game with an ankle injury. Portland dropped its 13th straight game with the last win a 76-65 victory against San Francisco on Jan. 4. The Dons (19-11, 8-7) got revenge on Thursday to even the season series and move into a tie for fifth place in the WCC standings.

Trailing by 20 at the half, the Pilots buried 8-of-12 three-pointers in the second stanza and cut the deficit to three at one point, but the Dons finished strong for the win.

Portland opened the game with Malcolm Porter drilling a baseline three-pointer to take the early lead, but the Pilots would miss their next 10 field goal attempts. The Dons took advantage by scoring 16 unanswered points.

San Francisco would extend its lead to as much as 24 points late in the first half as Portland scored seven points in the final two minutes to avoid its lowest scoring half of the season. The Dons carried a 40-20 lead into the break, but the Pilots would pour it on to make it a one-possession game late.

Diabate got it going with a layup and assist to Takiula Fahrensohn to pull the Pilots within 44-26. The Pilots then hit four consecutive three-pointers by four different players to make it an 11-point game. Fahrensohn hit the last one with 12:32 left in regulation forcing a San Francisco timeout.

The Dons responded with a three-pointer from Trevante Anderson to quell the threat temporarily, but the Pilots then erupted with an 11-0 run. Fahrensohn buried another triple and Diabate capped the spurt with a steal and fastbreak dunk to make it 52-49 with eight minutes remaining.

USF stopped the bleeding and took control for good with a 17-2 run to push the margin back to double digits. Khalil Shabazz provided the dagger with a four-point play during the rally as the Dons made six straight field goals.

USF shot 45 percent overall compared to Portland's 38 percent from the field. UP drilled 12-of-24 three-pointers, but committed 17 turnovers while forcing just nine.

Portland will conclude the regular season at Santa Clara on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. on the WCC Network. Radio coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. on 1080 The Fan.