Portland uses a 16-1 run at the end of regulation to tie the game, but Cal Poly survives with a late three-pointer

CORVALLIS, Ore. --- Portland senior Darren Cooper’s contested three-pointer with three seconds left in regulation missed long as the Cal Poly Mustangs held on for a 56-53 victory on Saturday in the second day of the Oregon Rain Invitational at Gill Coliseum.

The Pilots (0-2) used a 16-1 run over a seven minute span to tie the score at 53-53 with 1:20 to play on a three-pointer from freshman point guard Taishi Ito. Ito then drew an offensive foul and gave Portland a chance to take its first lead of the game, but Mustang forward Derek Stockalper came up with a big steal and Dawin Whiten hit a clutch three with 12 seconds remaining, proving to be the difference in the game.

Whiten led all scorers with 17 points, while Titus Shelton added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Mustangs.

No Pilots reached double figure scoring as Cooper led the way with nine points, despite shooting just 1-for-7 from the field. Cooper, who is coming back from preseason knee surgery, responded well physically after playing six minutes against Oregon State on Friday and was encouraged to play more minutes by the Portland medical staff on Saturday. He made the start at guard and logged 24 minutes, playing a big part in the Pilots’ second half comeback.

Sophomore Jamie Jones added eight points and six rebounds, all coming in the second half, while senior center Kevin Field also added eight points off the bench.

Cal Poly (1-1) controlled the contest from the start and matched their largest lead of the game at 52-37 on a three-pointer by Rick Higgins with 8:05 remaining, before Portland clamped down on defense to ignite the late comeback. The Pilots forced the Mustangs to miss six consecutive shot attempts and created six turnovers during the run, before Whiten broke the scoring drought.

Ito, a native of Mie, Japan, also made a driving layup with 1:58 to play for his only five points of the game.

The Mustangs nearly lost their second game in as many days with a second half collapse, after giving away a 21-point second half lead to Southeastern Louisiana on Friday before losing 76-69.

Turnovers and poor shooting again proved to be the Achilles heel for the Pilots on Saturday. Portland had 18 turnovers and shot 33 percent from the floor in its 65-48 debut loss to Oregon State on Friday. Against Cal Poly, the Pilots committed 21 turnovers and shot 38 percent from the field.

“We need to stop turning the ball over,” Portland head coach Eric Reveno said. “A lot of the turnovers today were again unforced or just plain fundamental mistakes. Poor footwork leading to traveling calls, wings not getting open for our point guards, post players not holding position to receive a pass. Responsibility falls on everyone and those are things we will continue to work on in practice.”  

Portland limited Cal Poly to 37 percent shooting and held a 42-30 rebounding advantage for the game.

“We’re making progress defensively and in terms of rebounding,” Reveno said. “We have a zero tolerance approach with regards to giving up offensive rebounds.”

Portland held a 9-7 edge in second chance points for the game, allowing just three offensive boards and no second chance points to the Mustangs after the half.

The Mustangs jumped out to a 31-16 lead late in the first half on consecutive threes by Trae Clark and Whiten. Cal Poly took a 33-22 halftime edge as Shelton led the way with eight first half points.

“I was proud of us stepping up the level of competition and getting back in the game down the stretch,” Reveno added. “We need to play with that level of urgency on every possession. It was a great experience to feel what we felt at the end, like every possession may be the last of the game. It’s nice to know we have it in us, now we need to bring that out more often.”

The Pilots will conclude the tournament on Sunday with an 11:30 a.m. game against SE Louisiana at 11:30 a.m.