PORTLAND, Ore. --- The University of Portland men’s basketball season came to an end Saturday night as the Pilots fell to Saint Mary’s 87-47 in the West Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals. Portland finishes its season with a 9-23 record while Saint Mary’s (17-14) advances to face Santa Clara in the tournament semifinals.
It was a tough night all around for the Pilots, as Saint Mary’s shot for 57 percent on the game and held the Pilots to 40 percent for the field. The Pilots also committed 15 turnovers and shot only 3-13 from beyond the arc. The Gaels also outrebounded the Pilots 40-21, grabbing 15 offensive boards on the night.
“Saint Mary’s was dominant tonight, beginning on the offensive boards and then they had some players hit some threes,” Portland head coach Eric Reveno said. “I felt for our guys because I could look in their eyes and they were really battling, but they were having trouble.”
The news got worse for the Pilots during half time as freshman guard Taisho Ito was forced to miss the remainder of the game due to back spasms.
The 40 point margin of victory was the largest of the season for Saint Mary’s and tied a WCC tournament record, set in 2001 when Gonzaga defeated the Gaels 105-65 in 2000.
Today’s game also marked the final games for seniors Darren Cooper (pictured), Ben Sullivan, Chris Jackson and Kevin Field.
Sophomore forward Jamie Jones was the only Pilot in double-digits, scoring 13 points and pulling down a team-high six rebounds. Junior forward Sherrard Watson and freshman forward Parker Emerson finished with nine and eight points respectively, while Cooper finished with seven.
Diamon Simpson led the way for Saint Mary’s, scoring a game-high 20 points and collecting a game-high 14 rebounds, including nine off the offensive glass. Brett Collins had 17 points off the bench and Wayne Hunter had 10 points, including three three pointers.
Leading 24-18 with 7:35 in the first half, the Gaels went on a 20-5 run to close out the half to go into the break with a commanding 44-23 lead.
Early in the second half the Pilots made a brief 8-2 run featuring three pointers by Darren Cooper and Parker Emerson to cut the lead to 15 at 48-33, but the Gaels responded with a 17-2 run of their own to put the game out of reach.
Despite the loss, coach Reveno views the season as a success and is excited about the future of Pilot basketball.
“From my perspective the season was a success,” Reveno said. “I thanked each one of them individually for their efforts this year and the senior had some positive comments about where they felt the program was going. I’m more excited today about the future of University of Portland basketball than I have been since I got here.”
