SAN FRANCISCO – As the referees conferred at the scorer's table, University of San Francisco men's basketball senior Jimbo Lull smiled and hugged Remu Raitanen at mid-court. 
 
It didn't matter much that Lull had been assessed a technical for a pull-up, two-handed dunk against Portland (9-21/1-14 WCC). What mattered was that the dunk halted a worrying late charge from the Pilots, one that shrank a 23-point lead down to just three with eight minutes to go.
 
Lull's dunk and a last-second half-court heave by fellow senior Jordan Ratinho marked an eventful senior night for the Dons (19-11/8-7 WCC). With an 85-61 win over the Pilots avenging a bad road loss, San Francisco is now just one win away from its fourth straight 20-win season.
 
Ratinho, Raitanen and Lull — who tallied his fifth career double-double this season on Thursday with 16 points and 13 rebounds — are three of the main drivers of the cultural shift wrought by Kyle Smith when he became head coach, and one that's been continued by his successor Golden.
 
San Francisco won 20 games in seven-straight seasons from 1975-82, but had not even recorded back-to-back 20-win campaigns until Smith's arrival. He brought back Frankie Ferrari (who graduated last year) and added the now-graduating trio, with whom the Dons have had sustained success and built a rising power that has challenged and beaten Power Five programs.
 
"They bought in instantly," said Golden, who was an assistant on Smith's staff from the outset. "They've had great attitudes, great work ethics and they really enjoyed being here at USF. So, when you combine those three things, and the talents on the floor and in the classroom, it speaks volumes as to what this program is becoming."
 
Lull, Ratinho and Raitanen were at the emotional core of San Francisco's surge after a 76-65 loss to the Pilots on Jan. 4, where the Dons allowed Portland to shoot 51.72 percent from the field in the second half, and go 5-for-10 from beyond the 3-point arc. 
 
"After we lost up there, we started this motto: Be accountable," Lull said. "Be consistent. We needed to come out every day, work hard and play with a lot of energy. It definitely started with losing to them up there."
 
After that defeat, San Francisco went 5-1 with a win against BYU. Since that stretch, though, the Dons have played unevenly, and that continued on Thursday night.
 
Lull scored 10 of USF's first 23 points as the Dons started the game on a 23-7 run. He was key down low as they shut down center Tahirou Diabate en route to authoring the team's best defensive half of the season, holding the Pilots to just 20 points on 25% shooting.
 
Despite a halftime speech exhorting his team to not let up again, after four quick points from Ratinho and one of two Josh Kunen 3-pointers (the freshman finished with 10 points), the Pilots went on a 21-5 run. A Diabate dunk cut the lead to three with 8:19 to go.
 
Lull and his teammates looked up at the scoreboard in shock. Golden told his team they needed to "move it or lose it."
 
"I just thought we let up a little bit, to be honest," Golden said. "Bottom line is Portland starts playing very free, and you know they have nothing to lose, so when you play with that type of mentality, you tend to shoot the ball a little better, you start making a few riskier plays.
 
"It's what's held us back a little bit this year, is the fact that we haven't been able to put 40 consecutive minutes together. When we play well, we can play with anybody."

Golden reminded his team of that fact, and coming out of the time out, Raitanen hit a layup — his only shot of the night — to spark a 17-2 run, capped by Lull's emphatic two-handed jam in transition. As he performed a pull-up on the rim with 4:35 to go, Lull was whistled for a technical. 
 
"You're never happy about it, but in that case, I was able to deal with it," Golden said.
 
"Oh, I didn't care at all," said Lull, who, once he lowered himself, smiled and exchanged high-fives with Raitanen near mid-court as the lead edged back out to 18. 
 
Five San Francisco players finished in double figures, led by Lull and Jamaree Bouyea's 16 each, followed by Ratinho's 13, Khalil Shabazz's 12 and Kunen's 10. The Dons never led by fewer than 14 the rest of the way. 
 
With the shot clock winding down and only 35 seconds left, Kunen fired a kick-out pass that got a bit too far near mid-court. With only three seconds left on the shot clock, Ratinho hoisted a prayer up from the bend in the Dons' center-court U chalice logo. It banked off the glass and in, an appropriate home bow for the program's all-time 3-point field goal leader.
 
"It's a good last shot to remember on this court," Ratinho said, with friends and family whooping in the background, as the players celebrated senior night on the upper concourse with a pizza party.
 
Said Golden: "Just how we drew it up."