Portland threatens late, No. 19 Gonzaga prevails with 81-78 victory

Bouldin leads No. 19 Gonzaga past Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. — Matt Bouldin had 20 points and nine assists and No. 19 Gonzaga beat Portland for the 13th straight time, 81-78 on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs (12-3) led by as many as 13 points, but allowed the Pilots to close to 81-78 with less than a minute to go on Jared Stohl’s 3-pointer.

Bol Kong missed a pair of free throws with 4.6 seconds left, but Stohl’s 3-pointer to tie it hit the rim and bounced off as time ran out.

Freshman Elias Harris had 18 points for Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Stohl had 18 points for the Pilots (9-6).

Boosted by an enthusiastic purple-clad student section, the Pilots kept pressuring the Bulldogs. Stohl made a 3-pointer to narrow it to 53-51 with 11:10 to go.

Gonzaga responded a 9-1 run capped by Bouldin’s layup that made it 62-52 with 7:29 left. Kong’s 3-pointer that made it 68-55 with about 5 minutes to go appeared to put it out of reach.

Portland again rallied, closing to 70-66 when Smeulders hit a pair of free throws, before making their scrappy push in the final minute.

Portland opened with the slim lead early but Gonzaga pulled ahead 10-7 on Harris’ long jumper and a dunk. The Bulldogs extended the lead to 19-9 on Kelly Olynyk’s layup.

Portland recovered when Stohl’s 3-pointer got the Pilots to 30-26. Luke Sikma’s reverse layup made it 30-28 with less than five minutes to go before the half. Sikma is the son of seven-time NBA All-Star Jack Sikma, now an assistant with the Houston Rockets.

As quickly as Portland got back in the game, Gonzaga pulled away. Bouldin hit back-to-back long jumpers to make it 42-32 and the Bulldogs led 42-36 at the half.

The Bulldogs, looking for their 10th straight WCC title, were coming off an 85-83 victory over Illinois. Gonzaga’s only losses this season were to No. 10 Michigan State, No. 5 Duke and Wake Forest.

Portland, coming off a 67-57 victory over Army, has not defeated Gonzaga since Feb. 19, 2003, a 72-68 upset in Spokane.

Portland Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard was at the game at the Chiles Center.