Trojans Hold On to Beat Portland, 61-60 : USC: A 60-55 lead dwindles to one point, but Pilots muff chances to win.

USC basketball Coach George Raveling let out a sigh of relief after the Trojans escaped with a 61-60 victory over Portland Wednesday night.

“On a night that we struggled, good fortune smiled on us,” Raveling said.

Leading 60-55 with 1:12 remaining, the Trojans almost gave away the game to the Pilots, who, at 2-26, had the worst record in NCAA Division I play last season.

Portland cut the score to 60-57 on forward Eric Mobley’s layup with 57 seconds remaining. Guard Rodney Chatman gave USC a 61-57 lead when he made a free throw with 40 seconds left.

But the Trojans were still trying to give it away.

Portland forward William McDowell trimmed the score to 61-60 when he made a tip-in and added a free throw after he was fouled by Chris Munk with 38 seconds remaining.

Portland got another chance when USC guard Robert Pack missed the front end of a one-and-one with 20 seconds remaining. Portland forward David Roth grabbed the rebound, and the Pilots called time out with 13 seconds left to set up a play.

Ron Deaton inbounded the ball to Erik Spoelstra, but the clock didn’t start running and the officials called time out before they reset it to 10 seconds. The Pilots ran the same play, with Deaton inbounding to McDowell, who passed it to Spoelstra. But Spoelstra lost the ball and in a scramble underneath the Portland basket he was fouled by Munk with three seconds remaining.

Raveling called a timeout, presumably to rattle Spoelstra. The strategy worked as Spoelstra missed the front end of a one-and-one. Pack controlled the rebound, but he fell and was called for traveling, giving the Pilots another chance with one second left.

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t call the timeout at the end to make Spoelstra think, but to call a play if he made both of them,” Raveling said.

But McDowell missed a desperation shot at the buzzer and USC escaped with its second victory of the season. McDowell led Portland (1-5) with 16 points.

Pack led the Trojans (2-2) with 20 points.

“Tonight I was able to get loose and hit the shots I’ve been missing lately,” Pack said. “It was tough to get it inside so I had to do more from the outside than usual.”

Ronnie Coleman, who came into the game averaging 21.3 points, was held to 10 points.

“I thought Portland did an excellent job against Ronnie Coleman, possibly the best of anyone since he’s been here,” Raveling said.

Leading by eight points at halftime, the Trojans watched the Pilots take the lead.

USC gave away six turnovers in the first 3 1/2 minutes and was outscored, 9-0, as Portland took a 39-38 advantage.

“The second half, we got off to a terrible start. With this being so young of a team, it started to get to us mentally,” Raveling said. “We nearly went five minutes without scoring.”

The Trojans used an aggressive pressing defense to take a 37-29 lead at intermission.

Trailing 9-8, USC went to a 1-2-2 zone press and forced three turnovers en route to an 8-0 run.

Raveling used a three-guard offense for much of the first half.

USC Notes

Josh Lowery, Portland’s leading scorer, returned to the starting lineup after sitting out Saturday’s game against Columbia. Lowery was benched because he refused to take part in a drill at practice. Lowery, averaging 13 points a game, felt that he should be given more freedom to score. . . . USC plays San Diego State Saturday night at the San Diego Sports Arena.