Box Score
GREELEY, Colo. --- The Northern Colorado Bears knocked off the Portland Pilots 81-73 in an opening round CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) game Wednesday night at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion. Senior point guard T.J. Campbell led the Pilots with 19 points and 10 assists in his final game in a Portland uniform.
It is the second year in a row that the Pilots (21-11) lost on the road to open the CIT. The consecutive postseason appearances marked the first time in school history, while the 21 victories matched a Division I school record. The Bears (25-7) improve to 13-1 at home and advance to the second round and will await their Monday matchup after the first round is completed on Thursday.
It marked the final game for five Portland seniors, who helped the program record its best back-to-back seasons in history. One of those players, forward Ethan Niedermeyer, drilled four second half three-pointers to keep the Pilots within striking distance, but UNC had an answer each time and shot 72 percent in the second half to seal the game.
Will Figures, who led all scorers with 20 points for the Bears, converted a layup at the end of the shot clock with 8:41 to give the Bears a 56-46 lead. Portland pulled back within four after a Jasonn Hannibal three-point play and Niedermeyer three-pointer with 5:18 left.
Portland continued to score offensively and another three by Niedermeyer made it 65-62, but Mike Proctor answered with a tough fadeaway to push the margin back to five. Niedermeyer’s fourth three of the period pulled Portland within 68-65, but Neal Kingman answered with a three of his own at the other end and the Pilots would get no closer.
Niedermeyer joined Campbell in double figures with 12 points in his final game. Five Bears reached double figures as UNC shot 56 percent from the field and made 22-of-29 free throws. Portland finished at 44 percent from the floor, 12-for-22 from three-point range and 13-for-16 at the charity stripe.
Despite only 12 turnovers by the Pilots, UNC gained a 22-10 edge in points off of turnovers and controlled the interior with a 35-20 margin in points in the paint.
The Pilots overcame a sluggish start in which the Bears led by as much as 11 points in the first half. The Pilots closed the half with a Jared Stohl three-pointer at the buzzer for a 34-30 deficit. Stohl, the national leader in three-point percentage, finished 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. His season total of 98 three-pointers is tied for the second most in Portland history.
Senior guard Nik Raivio missed his 15th and final game of the season with a lingering Achilles’ strain, while Robin Smeulders and Taishi Ito also concluded their careers as Pilots. Raivio and Smeulders finished as 1,000-point scorers, while Ito was a three-year team captain.
