Noticeably lacking a consistent effort, Portland sleep-walked its way to a 60-43 loss Friday to Holy Cross, its second loss in as many games at Hawaii’s Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic. The Pilots (4-6), will now face either Arkansas State or #10 Boston College in Saturday’s battle for seventh-place in the tournament.

Despite holding Holy Cross to only 32.7% field goal shooting, the Pilots committed 16 turnovers and were out-rebounded 47-26. The Crusaders grabbed 23 offensive rebounds and harried the Pilots into just 34.6% field goal shooting.

But that’s painting the game in a positive light.

Three Holy Cross guards nearly out-rebounded the entire Portland roster as Coky Rochin’s 10 rebounds accounted for nearly 40% of the Pilots’ total. Rochin added 14 points for his fifth double-double of the season.

“We realized our biggest fear today - what will happen to us when we don’t put out a superb effort,” said Portland head coach Michael Holton. “For whatever reason, our effort was less than our competition’s. As the head coach of this team, I take that responsibility.”

The Pilots trailed 12-2 less than five minutes into the game after turning the ball over four times, but roared back with eight unanswered points to trail 12-10. Portland couldn’t get closer than four points in the remainder of the half, eventually trailing 27-17 at the break.

A 10-4 run over the first 5:31 of the second half got Portland within five points, but the Crusaders reeled off seven unanswered points to back up 39-27. Content to keep the game at a crawl, Holy Cross stuck to its zone defense, forcing the Pilots into a jump-shooting squad.

“We didn’t work to get the ball into the gaps of their zone, and that gave the defense confidence as the game wore on,” noted Holton.

And the game did wear on. And on.

When Casey Frandsen knocked down a rare 3-pointer – the Pilots were just 6-of-20 from deep – Portland trailed just 47-40 with 5:53 left to play. Unfortunately, Portland wouldn’t score again until Frandsen hit another trey nearly four minutes later.

Holy Cross was nearly as inept in that stretch, making just one of seven field goal attempts to go with three free throws. Nursing a precarious 52-43 lead, the Crusaders’ Ryan Serravalle nailed 6-of-8 free throws in the final 1:33 to ice the game. Serravalle led Holy Cross with 14 points, and added eight rebounds.

In addition to the sizeable rebounding advantage, Holy Cross was 21-of-27 at the free throw line, while the Pilots made just five appearances, making one.