By Malika Andrews |
The announcer came over the jumbotron, “less than one minute remaining.” Right on cue, Santa Clara’s Jared Brownridge nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, extending the Broncos two-point lead to five.
With 32 seconds left, Alec Wintering hit a 3-pointer to echo Brownridge.
Two point game.
That is as close as Portland would get. Santa Clara capitalized on a Wintering turnover and put away the win at the free throw line. The Broncos walked away with a 90-84 win over the Pilots in Chiles Center on Saturday night.
Both teams came into Saturday’s game on a three-game losing streak. With the win, Santa Clara improves to 4-7 while Portland drops to 3-8. The Pilots have lost eight of their last nine games and have lost their last four straight.
“It feels like more than four (losses),” head coach Eric Reveno said. “It feels like 30. And the guys need a win. It’s really hard when the cloud of losing starts hanging over you, all of a sudden that becomes an issue … it tests everyone, including myself.”
Wintering led the Pilots with 31 points. Brownridge led the Broncos with 38 points including back-to-back 3-pointers to end the first half. Brownridge has played over 100 minutes more than any other player on the Broncos. Feagin chipped in 15 points including seven from the charity stripe for Santa Clara.
Both Wintering and Brownridge scored 22 points in the second half.
Following sophomore D’Marques Tyson’s career high 27 points against San Francisco of Thursday night, Reveno added him to Portland’s starting lineup. Ray Barreno returned to the court after missing Thursday night’s game recovering from a concussion.
After trailing 47-34 at the half, Tyson and freshman Jazz Johnson sunk consecutive 3-pointers to cut the Broncos lead to three with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game. The Pilots and Broncos recorded 12 tied scores in the game.
Next, the Pilots travel to Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount University next week before coming back home to take on Gonzaga on Feb. 11 at 8 p.m.
Malika Andrews is the sports editor for the Beacon. She can be reached at andrewsm17@up.edu or on Twitter @malika_andrews.
