PORTLAND, Ore. – For the second time this month Jared Brownridge and KJ Feagin helped the Santa Clara men's basketball team outlast the Portland Pilots in a West Coast Conference game.
Brownridge scored a game-high 38 points and Feagin added 15, including six free throws in the final 32 seconds, helping the Broncos (8-15, 4-7) snap a three-game losing in downing the Pilots, 90-84, at Chiles Center.
"Jared stepped up. He did what he had to do - hitting threes," Santa Clara head coach Kerry Keating said. "He hit a big shot mid to late first half and then closed it out with under two minutes to go."
Brownridge was 14 of 24 from the floor, including three field goals in a span of 1:21 that snapped a 77-all tie beginning with less than 3 minutes left in the game.
His 3-pointer, fading away from the top the key with 46 seconds left, extended the lead to 84-79. Brownridge went 7-for-11 from the 3-point line and connected on his final seven field goals of the game.
Alec Wintering led Portland (9-15, 3-8), which lost its fourth straight, with 31 points, including the team's final 10, but with 14 seconds left and the Pilots trailing 88-84 Feagin forced him into a turnover and the freshman guard nailed his final two from the line.
"KJ made his free throws," Keating said. "That was big for him."
Matt Hubbard had 10 points off the bench for the Broncos who shot 53 percent from the floor and had their highest point total of the season.
Bryce Pressley had 17 points, and D'Marques Tyson added 12 for the Pilots who trailed 47-34 at the half, but scored the first nine points after the break and took the lead three times in the final 8 minutes.
"That's going to happen on the road when you have a lead in their house, they're going fight back," Keating said.
After going through a stretch of five turnovers in 60 minutes of action (four vs. Gonzaga Thursday and one in the first half), the Broncos had 10 in the second half, including three in the first three minutes.
"You can't turn the ball over 10 times, but that's something we have to learn from," Keating said.
Feagin's 3-pointer at 16:10 made it 50-43 and the Pilots didn't take their first lead since early in the first half until a Jazz Johnson layup made 66-65 with 7:14 left in the game.
Neither team led by more than three points until Brownridge's 3-pointer with less than one minute left.
The Broncos swept the season series from the Pilots.
Feagin scored a game-high 25 points and Brownridge tallied 23, including six free throws in the final minute, to help the Broncos defeat the Pilots, 84-77, on Jan. 2 in Santa Clara.
After neither team led by more than four for the opening 16 minutes in the second meeting, the Broncos took control with a flurry at the end of the half.
With 2 minutes left and the Broncos leading 38-34, Hubbard started a 9-0 run with one of his four first half buckets and Brownridge closed it with a 3-pointer and another jumper. The Pilots, meanwhile, missed their final five shots of the half.
There were six lead changes and three ties in the opening 13 minutes. An inside basket by Kratch at 6:33 snapped a 27-all game and the Broncos scored eight of the next 12 points.
The Broncos bounced back on the final leg of their Northwest road trip after losing at Gonzaga, 84-67, Thursday.
"I think it shows a lot for a young team to go into the toughest place to play again first, lose; not play great but lose then come back in the middle of a trip and answer the bell in the second game," Keating said. "I think that bodes well for us in the future."
Santa Clara is off until Saturday when it travels to San Francisco to play the Dons.
Notes: Both coaching staffs wore sneakers as part of the national Coaches vs. Cancer recognition … the Broncos 47 first half points were the most in any half this season. They had 45 in the second half of Thursday's Gonzaga game … Brownridge (38) scored 30 or more points for the sixth time in his career and third time this season, his 14 field goals were a career high (12 at Pepperdine, March 1, 2014), and he had seven or more 3-pointers for the fourth time this season … Matt Hubbard (10 points) hit double figures for the fifth time this season but first in 10 games … KJ Feagin went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line and has connected on 31 of his last 34 attempts (91.2 percent) … Alec Wintering's 12 made field goals were the most by an opposing player this season, surpassing the 11 by Mike Hill of Pacific Union (Dec. 12).
The Portland Series: The series began in 1946 and Santa Clara now leads, 60-33. The Broncos have now won two in a row after the Pilots won the previous three. Santa Clara won the three prior to that streak.