FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Northwestern’s T.J. Parker nailed a desperation shot at the buzzer giving the Wildcats a 56-53 win over the University of Portland tonight at the Top of the World Classic. Portland (0-1) continues play tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. (AKT) against the loser of the Western Michigan/New Mexico State game. Northwestern opens its season with a 1-0 record.
Freshman Marcus Lewis led Portland with his first collegiate double-double. Lewis came off the bench to score 14 points and led all players, tearing down 11 boards. Pooh Jeter was the only other Pilot to record double figures with 11 points. Jeter also tallied a career-best eight rebounds in the game. Donald Wilson finished the night with eight points and four steals. Portland went 19-of-48 from the floor (40 percent), but just 2-of-6 from three-point range (14 percent), while tacking on 13-of-20 from the free-throw line (65 percent).
“In a lot of ways, it was a tremendous game,” said Pilot head coach Michael Holton. “I thought we put ourselves in a position to win, but Northwestern executed and made shots down the stretch and I take my hat off to them. I am proud of our team for coming back from 10 points down early on. Late in the game, our offense sputtered and that made the difference..”
“We’re very fortunate to have won this game,” said Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody. “ The first 10 minutes belonged to us, the second 10 minutes belonged to them and we weren’t very good at all in the second half. We were very fortunate to get that last shot down. We did not play well despite having open looks. We seemed to be sleepwalking, but Portland played well and had a lot to do with that.”
Portland got the opening tip and couldn’t convert, but made a stop on the defensive end of the floor before Dreshawn Vance scored off the block for a 2-0 Pilot lead. With 14 minutes left in the first half, Northwestern managed an 11-6 lead, but the Pilots cut the lead down to one, as Lewis scored off the block and then on the next possession, converted two freebies. The Wildcats then went on an 11-2 run for a 22-12 lead with 7:34 left before the break.
Portland turned up the heat and held Northwestern to just six points in the last seven minutes of play, while scoring 18 of their own. A Jeter shake-n-bake trey with 6:49 on the clock got things started, but NU’s Evan Seacat responded with a three-pointer of his own on the next possession. Ben Sullivan nailed a 15-footer off the glass, followed by a huge three-point play by Lewis and then a Sullivan lay in, before NU’s Vince Scott scored the Wildcats’ final points of the half. With just over two minutes left before the break, Kark Aaker and Jeremiah Dominguez combined for eight points to give the Pilots a 30-28 halftime lead.
Lewis led the Pilots with seven points and seven boards, while T.J. Parker was the only player in double-digits in the first half. Portland held the advantage on the boards, 21-12 and shot 86 percent (6-7) from the free-throw line. Northwestern went to the line just four times, converting two and shot just 39 percent from the field (11-28), compared to Portland’s 42 percent (11-26). Both teams shot just 25 percent from the great beyond in the first half.
The Pilots continued to pressure Northwestern in the second half and jumped out to a 35-28 early lead before the Wildcats could score. After another Lewis three-point play and an Andreas Gahlmann offensive putback, the Pilots gained their largest lead, 39-30 with 14 minutes left in the game. The Wildcats wouldn’t succumb and went on a 12-5 run to come within four points with just over six minutes left.
NU’s Vedran Vukusic tied the game at 50 on a long three-pointer at the 2:59 mark. With :36 second left in the game, Jeter drove through traffic and was fouled, sending him to the line to shoot two. He converted just one of the freebies, and on the next play, Northwestern’s Brandon Lee nailed a three-pointer, giving the Wildcats a two point lead with 18 seconds left. Lewis then tied the game at 53 with three seconds to go, but Northwestern’s Parker connected on a long range three-pointer as time expired and the Wildcats went on to win, 56-53.
“We wanted to win tonight, but we just didn’t execute our plays as well as we could have,” said Jeter. “I feel real good about our energy and intensity tonight, even though we lost.”
Parker led all players with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor. Vedran recorded 12 points, while Davor Duvanic added eight points and nine boards. For the game, the Wildcats shot 40 percent (21-53) from the field, 29 percent (10-34) from three-point range and just 40 percent (4-10) from the charity stripe.
Portland finished with a 41-26 advantage on the boards. The Pilots turned the ball over 17 times tonight as Northwestern recorded 13 points off Portland mistakes. Recording 14 offensive board, the Pilots were able to rack up 17 second chance points, compared to NU’s four. The Porltand bench chipped in with 23 points, while the Wildcats’ reserves managed to assist with 10 points. Portland scored six more points in the paint than NU in the game.
