Box Score

Jared Stohl added 13 points while Robin Smeulders and Luke Sikma each chipped in 12 as Portland (6-5) put five players in double figures while two others had nine.

Howard (1-8) was led by Calvin Thompson with 20 points while Eugene Myatt added 18.

Howard got off to a good start by hitting five of its first six shots en route to a 15-14 advantage, but it would be the Bison’s last lead of the game. Portland gradually took control the game while connecting on 59 percent (19 of 32) of its first-half shots.

After their fast start, the Bison made only 41 percent of their first-half attempts, which helped Portland post a 46-30 halftime lead. Raivio led the way in that half with 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Portland extended its lead to 59-32 when Jasonn Hannibal hit a lay-up early in the second half, but the Bison refused to surrender. Over the next seven minutes, Thompson and Myatt combined for 15 points as Howard carved Portland’s lead to 70-54.

Chris McHenry scored Howard’s next 11 points, including three consecutive 3-pointers and Myatt followed with a 3 of his own and suddenly Portland’s lead was down to 81-68 with 4:23 left to play.

But Portland iced the game by out-scoring Howard 17-5 down the stretch. The Pilots committed 20 turnovers in the game, but wound up shooting 60.6 percent, which represented a season high. Portland also enjoyed a whopping 49-15 advantage on the boards and 20-2 margin in second chance points. Sikma led the way with 12 rebounds in registering Portland’s first double-double of the season.

“We were faced with the turnover bug again tonight and that is something we need to work on,” Portland head coach Eric Reveno said. “We were going 80 miles per hour sometimes when 70 would have still been effective. We need to learn how to change gears from the defensive end to the offensive end.

“Twenty turnovers is too much but we still racked up 23 assists. I think it is a function of better understanding our offense and making better reads. As we get into conference play teams will be well-prepared for our sets and we’ll have to continue to adapt offensively.”

The Pilots will next take part in the Golden Bear Classic Dec. 27-28 hosted by California in Berkeley. Portland will face Air Force on Saturday and then either Cal or Dartmouth on Sunday.

“Overall it was a good team effort,” Reveno added. “Our young guys are going to come along and get an opportunity to play more minutes at some point and everyone is going to ask why they weren’t playing more sooner. Some guys deserve more minutes then they are getting on a consistent basis, but the reality is we can only play five at a time. Tonight was a good chance for some of those young guys to show what they can do and we’re excited to see them keep improving.”