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Balanced Effort Leads Pilots Past Columbia
PORTLAND, Ore. --- Thomas van der Mars scored a game-high 14 points and the Portland Pilots used a balanced offensive attack and stout defense for a 69-52 win over Columbia in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Friday night at the Chiles Center. Kevin Bailey added 13 points and Ryan Nicholas had 12 points, while the Pilots limited the Lions to 29 percent shooting in the game.
For the second straight game, the Pilots (3-2) were dominant early and raced to a 20-5 lead following back-to-back baskets by Bobby Sharp and Volodymyr Gerun.
The Lions (2-3) inched back the remainder of the half as Portland carried a 35-27 lead into the break.
Portland scored the first eight points of the second half, but Columbia again pulled it back to single digits on a three-pointer from Luke Petrasik to make it 45-36 with 10:22 remaining. A 14-4 Pilot run capped by a layup from Bailey put the game out of reach.
All 13 players on the Pilot roster saw action and 11 different players scored. Portland shot 49 percent from the field on the night and had 18 assists with only six turnovers. The Lions had four assists and 12 turnovers overall.
Van der Mars had his second straight dominant outing, finishing 7-for-8 from the field and tying Gerun for the team rebound lead with six. He had 15 points and 12 rebounds in Thursday's win over Idaho.
Portland will conclude the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Saturday night at 7 p.m. against North Texas (2-3). The Mean Green lost to Idaho on Friday by an 87-76 margin. The game will be aired live on Sports 910 AM with a pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. A free video broadcast of the game will also be available at www.PilotsVideo.com.
GIF Highlights
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Thomas van der Mars dominated the early going, and put the Pilots up by 13 in the first half with this huge dunk off a nice assist from Voldy Gerun.
Bobby Sharp has at least two three pointers in every game this season, and knocked down this one from deep early in the first half.
Kevin Bailey hit several clutch shots for the Pilots to put stops to Columbia runs and keep Portland comfortably in the lead throughout the game.
For the second game in a row, Thomas van der Mars led the Pilots in scoring and rebounding. Two of his 14 points came on this turnaround hook in the paint midway through the second half.
