SAN FRANCISCO – The University of San Francisco men's basketball team could not find its touch from beyond the arc, especially in the second half.  Inn the end it would not matter as the Dons got it done inside defeating visiting Portland 65-63 on Thursday evening at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
With 13 seconds left in the contest, Chase Foster hit the back end of a pair of free throws to give the Dons a two-point lead.  After a full timeout by USF, the Pilots were forced to go the entire length of the floor and stingy defense by the Dons forced a long heave from D'Marques Tyson that bounced off the front of the iron as the time expired to seal the win for USF.
 
The contest began with the Dons going on an 8-0 run, but from there USF could not shake the Pilots (10-16, 4-9 WCC) who kept the game close, tying it three times, but could not get that crucial bucket to take the lead.  For the second consecutive game the Dons never trailed, but it was not easy. 
 
USF (14-12, 6-7 WCC) shot 40.4 percent from the field, going 23-for-57, from 3-point range they were cold, going 4-for-19.  Four upperclassmen carried the offensive weight tonight, with Frankie Ferrari finishing with a team-high 13 points.  Foster finished with 11 points and tied his career-high with five assists.  Nate Renfro finished with 12 points and six rebounds, Matt McCarthy finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
 
Marcus Shaver Jr led the Pilots with a game-high 22 points, he went 7-for-15 from the floor and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.  The Pilots shot 45.8 percent going 22-for-48 and outrebounded the Dons 32-31.
 
GAME NOTES

• USF improves to 13-0 when leading at halftime.  The Dons went into the intermission leading 28-26 after shooing 40.0 percent from the field, Nate Renfro and Matt McCarthy had eight and seven respectively in the opening half.
• The Dons improved to 5-6 on the year when committing fewer turnovers than their opponent.  The Pilots turned the ball over 14 times to the Dons 10.  USF turned those 14 turnovers into 14 points.
• The 65 points scored by the Dons is the second lowest of the season in which USF came away with the win.  The lowest came in the 52-41 win over visiting Radford on Dec. 19. 
• The Dons are now 5-8 when scoring 69 or less this season.

 
NEXT UP
The Dons will pack their bags and return to the road when they travel to Provo, Utah to take on BYU on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. PST.  That game will be televised on NBC Sports California and will have a live radio broadcast on Livestream.com