SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Kristian Sjolund went for career highs of 23 points and 18 rebounds as the Portland Pilots secured a signature win under first year head coach Shantay Legans with a thrilling 69-68 road victory over the San Francisco Dons Tuesday night at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.

With starting point guard Mike Meadows and key reserve Matija Svetozarovic unavailable, Sjolund stepped up with a heroic effort while playing all 40 minutes. Moses Wood added 18 points and eight rebounds, while Tyler Robertson finished with 10 points.

The Pilots (12-12, 3-6 WCC) turned the tables on San Francisco who snuck away from the Chiles Center with a 74-71 win in the closing seconds on Saturday. Tuesday night the script flipped as Portland made the winning plays down the stretch to secure the victory.

Sjolund had numerous big buckets in the closing minutes including a highlight-reel putback dunk, two well-contested three-pointers and a pair of late free throws.

Sjolund's three-pointer made it 52-50, but Jamaree Bouyea converted a three-point play and step back triple to put the Dons (19-6, 6-4 WCC)  up 58-54 with less than four minutes remaining. Chris Austin tied it at 58 with a driving layup and after a defensive stop Sjolund buried another three on a loose ball for a 61-58 lead and 1:17 remaining.

After two Dons free throws, Sjolund buried a corner three-pointer while drifting out of bounds in front of the Pilots bench for a 65-60 lead. He added a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left to give Portland a five-point lead, but Khalil Shabazz kept USF alive with a three-pointer. The Pilots navigated the full court pressure and Robertson hit a pair of free throws to ice the game with 1.9 seconds left. Gabe Stefanini hit a 65-footer at the buzzer to make it a 69-68 final.

Four of the eight Pilot players to see the court finished the game with four fouls. Freshman forward Chika Nduka picked up his fourth with 15:05 remaining, but navigated the final 10-plus minutes without fouling.

Portland's defense was spectacular as the Dons were held to 30 percent shooting from the field. The undersized Pilots battled on the glass and were only outrebounded by a 47-46 margin.

The game opened with Portland racing out to a 14-3 lead with suffocating defense, but USF got back-to-back three-pointers from Stefanini to make it a 14-9 deficit. The Pilots would go on a nearly four-minute scoring drought and missed nine straight field goals as USF capitalized with a 12-1 run and took a 21-18 lead. Robertson beat the halftime buzzer with a baseline jumper to make it a 29-24 Dons advantage at the half.

Sjolund hit back-to-back three-pointers to open the second half and neither team would lead by more than seven points the rest of the way.

Portland will return home to prepare for a four-game WCC homestand beginning Saturday at 7 p.m. versus Loyola Marymount. Tickets for all remaining home games are available by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets.