Box Score
PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots opened the 2008-09 men’s basketball season with a 94-36 exhibition victory over the Linfield Wildcats Thursday night at the Chiles Center. Portland shot 54 percent from the field and limited Linfield to 19 percent from the floor. Junior Robin Smeulders led four Pilots in double figures with 21 points.
Sophomore Jared Stohl drained six three-pointers and had 18 points. Sophomore Kramer Knutson added 11 and junior point guard T.J. Campbell had 10 points and six assists in his debut for the Pilots.
Portland will open the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 15 at home against the Washington Huskies.
On Thursday, the Pilots used a decisive size advantage and hot shooting to down the NCAA Division III Wildcats. The game was never in doubt as Portland raced to a 14-2 lead on consecutive threes by Stohl. Portland’s defense locked up the Wildcats and held them to 3-for-21 from the field in the first half en route to a 51-15 edge at the half.
The second half saw Portland extend its lead as Smeulders led the way with 12 points after intermission. He finished with a game-high nine rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
Portland was on fire from the perimeter hitting its first six three-pointers and finishing the night 13-for-21 from beyond the arc. Stohl was 6-for-9, junior forward Ethan Niedermeyer made all three of his attempts and Smeulders was 2-for-2.
Portland gained a 48-27 edge in rebounds and a 27-3 margin in second chance points. The Pilots exposed the Wildcats’ full court pressure with 20 fast break points and a 44-12 margin in points in the paint.
An area of concern for Portland head coach Eric Reveno was turnovers as the Pilots committed 21 on the night, but overall he was pleased with his team’s effort.
“The main thing we asked our guys was to play hard and defend,” Reveno said, “and I think we did a good job in those areas. We have some things to work on that became apparent tonight. We’ll have to look at situations where we relied more on our size and strength as opposed to skill and technique.
“Linfield is a well-coached team that exposed some areas where we need to improve, specifically in our halfcourt defense and handling ball pressure. Washington will be a different animal next Saturday and we must continue to improve in all areas.”
Tickets are available for all Portland Pilots men’s basketball games through all Ticketmaster outlets (www.ticketmaster.com or 503-224-4400) or at the Pilot Box Office in the Chiles Center.
