SANTA CLARA, Calif. --- The Portland Pilots battled back in the closing seconds before falling short to the Santa Clara Broncos by a 52-50 margin at the Leavey Center on Monday night. Portland sophomore Nik Raivio scored a game-high 23 points, including 20 in the second half, to lead the late surge.
The game looked all but done with the Broncos (12-10, 4-3 West Coast Conference) pulling to an eight point lead with 1:58 remaining, but missed free throws and a hot hand by Raivio turned it into a nail-biter.
Raivio scored 11 points in the final two minutes. His layup with 18 seconds left made it 49-47 and Brody Angley was immediately fouled but missed one of two to give Portland (7-16, 1-6) a chance to tie. Sherrard Watson’s three was off the mark with 10 seconds left and John Bryant made a pair from the stripe.
The game looked over, but Raivio converted a three-point play with two seconds remaining and stole the length of the court inbounds pass. He passed ahead to Watson, but his desperation halfcourt attempt was waved off.
After leading most of the first half, the Pilots went scoreless during a 6-minute streak early in the second half to spot the Broncos an eight point lead. Raivio then heated up and Angley missed three late free throws to give the Pilots a chance.
“Offensively we found our rhythm at times and ran good sets but the shots just didn’t go down,” Portland coach Eric Reveno said. “Our defense kept us in it and we were fortunate to have a chance to tie it at the end.”
Sophomore forward Robin Smeulders set career-highs with 16 rebounds and four assists for the Pilots, but struggled to 2-for-15 shooting from the floor.
Bryant led the Broncos with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Angley added 14 points and five assists.
Portland switched starting lineups for the first time since the third game of the season and the move paid immediate dividends. Freshmen Jared Stohl, Jasonn Hannibal and Smeulders each made their first career starts and all were effective.
Stohl matched his career-high with 13 points, including 11 in the first period Hannibal held his own against Bryant and scored the first two points for the Pilots.
“I felt like we kind of plateaued and were struggling,” Reveno said, regarding the lineup change. “We wanted to mix it up. Anyone among our rotation can start, but we changed it up for some matchups and I thought the guys responded well.”
Portland led a majority of the first half, but Andrew Zimmerman gave the Broncos a 24-23 halftime edge by stealing the ball in the closing seconds and making two free throws to close the period.
Santa Clara shot 40 percent from the field compared to Portland’s 33 percent. The Pilots gained a 38-31 edge on the boards.
The Pilots will return to Portland next weekend for a two-game homestand at the Chiles Center. LMU will visit the Pilots on Saturday at 7 p.m., while Pepperdine will be on campus Monday at 7 p.m. All Pilot games are available on 1410 KBNP and audio streamed at portlandpilots.com. A live video stream of all home games is also available at pilotsvideo.com.
