PORTLAND – It wasn't quite the track meet the Dons and Pilots staged on New Year's Eve on the Hilltop but the result was just as satisfying for USF which posted a 87-76 victory over Portland Thursday night at the Chiles Center.
 
The win improves USF's record to 11-9 overall and 5-5 in the West Coast Conference while Portland falls to 9-14 and 3-7 in conference play. The Dons have now won 11 of the last 13 games played against the Pilots, including six straight in the Chiles Center.
 
Ronnie Boyce's 19 points led a balanced USF scoring sheet which saw six players score in double figures. Tim Derksen finished with 16, Uche Ofoegbu and Devin Watson had 13, Dont'e Reynolds added 12 while Chase Foster chipped in with 10. Reynolds also pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds to notch his third double-double of the season and had three blocks.
 
USF ended the game shooting 47.5 percent from the floor and knocked down 22 of 26 free throws on the night.
 
D'Marques Tyson (27) and Alec Wintering (24) combined to score 51 of the Pilots 76 points. Bryce Pressley was held to nine points on the night.
 
USF never trailed in the game - quite a contrast for a team that has rallied for double-figure deficits in three of its conference wins this season. The Dons also survived 13 three-pointers from the Pilots, including eight from Tyson.
 
USF got off to a solid start in the game and built a five-point lead at 17-12 after a Foster three-pointer at the 13:31 mark, The Dons made seven of their first 10 three-point attempts and used a 14-0 run to open a 41-23 lead with 6:35 left in the first period. Boyce scored eight of his 15 first half points during the run. However, the Pilots outscored USF 22-10 run to cut the Dons lead to just six at halftime at 51-45 at intermission, as Wintering scored 12 of his 14 first half points in a six and half minute spurt.
 
The Dons quickly seized momentum at the start of the second half by scoring six straight points after the break to open a 57-45 lead. USF led by as many as 14 points in the second half, the last time at 66-52 following a pair of Derksen free throws at the 10:23 mark.
 
A three-pointer by Tyson capped a 19-5 Portland run that whittled the Dons lead down to five at 76-71 with 3:41 remaining. The Dons were still hanging onto a five-point lead at 79-74 when Ofoegbu was fouled by Bryce Pressley after converting a dribble drive, reverse layup with 1:32 left. He completed the three-point play to boost the lead back to eight with 1:31 remaining.
 
The Dons turned the Pilots over on their next possession and Foster was able to make 1-of-2 free throws to give USF an 83-74 lead with 1:00 left.
 
Portland could get no closer than seven points before the Dons put the game away on the line to notch their third conference road win of the season.
 
"The first half was really up and down but I thought both teams made a conscience effort in the second half on the defensive end of the floor," said USF head coach Rex Walters. "We tried to control the tempo a little more and I thought Devin (Watson) was really good in getting the ball where it needed to go.
 
"We really got good minutes out of six or seven guys tonight. Ronnie (Boyce) was fantastic in the first half and Uche did a great job defensively on Pressley all night."
 
After a six-game stretch in which opponents averaged 91.0 points a game, USF held Santa Clara to just 61 points last Thursday and limited Portland to just 31 second half points tonight.
 
"I think they are really starting to understand what we want from them defensively and the effort it takes to be a good defensive team. Ronnie can cause problems with his length, Devin is really quick with his hands, Timmy is Timmy and Dont'e is giving us a solid presence underneath the basket."
 
USF will return to action Saturday night when the Dons meet the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the McCarthy Center beginning at 5:00 p.m. The game will be televised in the Bay Area on CSNCA.