Portland Comeback Tops Cal Poly, 73-71

WCC/Big Sky

Caanan Chatman scored 19 points, including two free throws with 5 seconds remaining, to lift visiting Portland to a 73-71 victory over Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo on Saturday night.

Cal Poly fell to 0-13 in its first season of Division I play. The Mustangs led throughout and were up 71-66 with 54 seconds remaining, but the Pilots (9-3) tied the game on two free throws by Chatman.

Frank Henderson fouled Chatman with 5 seconds to go, and after the free throws, the Mustangs’ desperation shot from midcourt missed as time expired.

Both teams committed 23 turnovers.

San Diego 90, San Francisco 85 Sean Flannery scored 17 points to lead the Toreros (1-0, 5-6) past the Dons (0-1, 6-8) in San Francisco.

The Dons raced to a 20-6 lead in just 7 minutes before the Toreros mounted a steady comeback that cut the Dons’ lead to 44-41 at the half.

San Diego took the lead for good in the first 2 minutes of the second half and increased the margin to 84-70 with 4:30 remaining.

SAN DIEGO

Fizdale 6-11 0-0 14, Harris 5-17 2-4 14, Flannery 4-14 6-7 17, Raffo 5-6 0-0 10, Williams 4-7 4-6 12, Mutrie 0-0 0-0 0, Black 0-3 0-0 0, Speech 3-4 1-1 7, Bruso 6-8 1-2 13, Obasohan 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 34-72 14-20 90.

SAN FRANCISCO

Brovelli 3-5 0-0 7, Walker 9-16 5-5 25, Paul 7-13 2-3 16, Duggan 4-9 4-4 13, Washington 4-10 2-3 11, Campbell 1-1 2-2 4, Galloway 0-0 0-0 0, Brass 1-1 0-0 3, Wallace 3-6 0-0 6, Fong 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-61 15-17 85.

Halftime-San Francisco 44, San Diego 41. 3-Point goals-San Diego 8-22 (Harris 2-10, Flannery 3-8, Fizdale 2-3, Obasohan 1-1), San Francisco 6-19 (Walker 2-7, Duggan 1-4, Brovelli 1-3, Washington 1-3, Brass 1-1, Paul 0-1). Fouled out-Washington. Rebounds-San Diego 41 (Williams 11), San Francisco 33 (Duggan 13). Assists-San Diego 17 (Fizdale 7), San Francisco 15 (Walker 5). Total fouls-San Diego 19, San Francisco 17. A-3,913.

Santa Clara 75, St. Mary’s 71

In Santa Clara, Calif., Steve Nash scored 34 points and made all 21 of his free throws to set a WCC record and lead the Broncos (1-0, 9-3) past the Gaels (0-1, 5-6).

Nash, who tied his career scoring high, made his final two free throws with 3 seconds remaining to clinch the win.

St. Mary’s got 19 points from Josh Unruh, 15 from Jumoke Horton and 13 from A.J. Rollins.

Nash’s final two free throws were the only points scored in the final 3:50 after Rollins’ 12-foot jumper gave St. Mary’s its final points.

The Gaels got a last chance after Santa Clara’s Kevin Dunne missed two free throws with 21 seconds remaining. But Nash recovered a loose ball underneath the Santa Clara basket, was fouled and made his 20th and 21st free throws.

The previous WCC single-game best from the foul line was by Loyola Marymount’s Bo Kimble, who made 17 of 17 against San Francisco in 1990. Nash’s 21-for-21 performance also was a school record.

ST. MARY’S

Unruh 6-15 3-5 19, Rollins 4-10 5-10 13, Horton 6-9 3-3 15, Sufi 2-4 0-0 6, Gilmore 1-3 0-0 3, Johnson 3-6 0-2 7, Joseph 0-0 0-0 0, Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, Peek 0-0 0-0 0, Driscoll 0-0 0-0 0, Steele 0-0 0-0 0, Farris 2-5 4-4 8. Totals 24-52 15-24 71.

SANTA CLARA

Von Buchwaldt 1-3 0-1 2, Dunne 5-8 0-2 10, Graves 3-4 0-0 6, Nash 6-16 21-21 34, Garnett 2-10 0-0 4, Zurek 1-2 0-0 2, Peirce 2-3 0-0 4, Sedlock 3-11 4-4 11, Anderson 1-0 0-2 2, Willett 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 25-30 75.

Halftime-Santa Clara 38, Saint St. 38. 3-Point goals-St. Mary’s 8-17 (Unruh 4-8, Sufi 2-3, Gilmore 1-2, Johnson 1-2, Farris 0-2), Santa Clara 2-15 (Nash 1-5, Sedlock 1-5, Garnett 0-4, Anderson 0-1). Fouled out- Horton, Von Buchwaldt. Rebounds-St. Mary’s 35 (Rollins 7, Farris 7), Santa Clara 35 (Nash 8. Assists-St. Mary’s 17 (Unruh 6), Santa Clara 11 (Nash 6). Total fouls-St. Mary’s 26, Santa Clara 20. A-5,000.

Big Sky Conference

Montana St. 90, Texas Tech 77

In Bozeman, Kwesi Coleman came off the bench to score 25 points to lead the Big Sky’s Bobcats (12-1) over the Southwest Conference’s Red Raiders.

Montana State led 20-8 in the first half, but Texas Tech closed within 46-44 at halftime.

The Red Raiders took their first lead, 48-46, with 19:15 remaining. There were seven more lead changes over the next 10 minutes.

A basket by Coleman with 9:18 remaining wiped out Tech’s 64-63 lead and keyed a 9-3 run that gave Montana State the lead for good.

Montana State has the longest active win ning streak in Division I men’s basketball with its 12 victories.

Montana 91, Lewis-Clark St. 60

In Missoula, Shane Belnap led five Grizzlies (8-4) in double figures with 15 points as the Big Sky contender routed the NAIA Division I Warriors (8-7).

Idaho St. 87, S. Utah 73

In Pocatello, Lorenzo Watkins scored 16 points and Nate Green added 15 to lead the Big Sky’s Bengals (9-2) over the Thunderbirds (5-6) of the American West Conference.

Boise St. 87, Rice 74

In Boise, center John Coker scored 22 points as the Big Sky’s Broncos (9-2) topped the Southwest’s Owls (4-6).