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Dons Top Portland 70-67; Finish In Third Place Tie In the West Coast Conference
Feb. 26, 2007
Alan Wiggins had 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and Manny Quezada made five free throws in the final 36 seconds to lead San Francisco to a 70-67 win over Portland on Monday night.
USF finishes the West Coast Conference tied for third with Saint Mary's with an 8-6 conference mark. The Dons will be the fourth seed in the tournament and begin play in the WCC tournament in Portland Saturday at 6:00 p.m. against the winner of the first round game between San Diego and Pepperdine.
Wiggins, who moved into 22nd place on the Dons' career-scoring list, had just six points in the first half but came on in the second half to post his eighth double-double of the season and help the Dons avoid an upset at home.
Johnny Dukes had 13 points and seven rebounds for San Francisco (13-17, 8-6 West Coast Conference. Antonio Kellogg added 13 points and five assists while Quezada finished with 14 points and six assists.
Sherrard Watson scored a career-high 27 points for the Pilots (8-22, 4-10), who fell to 1-13 on the road this season under first-year coach Eric Reveno.
The Dons appeared headed for an easy win after taking a 61-51 lead with 3:16 remaining on back-to-back 3-pointers from Quezada. The Pilots didn't go down quietly, however, and were within 69-67 with four seconds left.
Quezada then made one of two free throws to increase San Francisco's lead to three, and Portland failed to get a final shot off before the buzzer.
The Dons, who missed 11 of their first 15 shots overall, were just 4 of 16 from beyond the arc in the first half.
The Pilots, on the other hand, overcame their own shooting problems early and closed out the first half with a 13-4 run to take a 30-28 halftime lead.
San Francisco's offense continued to sputter in the second half and trailed 43-42 when coach Jessie Evans had the Dons briefly go to a full-court press.
Portland struggled against the pressure, committing three quick turnovers while San Francisco went on an 11-0 run to take a 53-43 lead. Dukes had seven points in the run, including an emphatic dunk and 3-pointer.
Darren Cooper, Portland's leading scorer, scored eight points to reach 1,000 for his career but was just 2 of 11 from the floor.
