Box Score
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PORTLAND, Ore. --- Freshman guard Kevin Bailey scored a season-high 15 points and sophomore forward Ryan Nicholas added 11 points and nine rebounds to lead the Portland Pilots to a 53-43 win over the Pepperdine Waves before 2,206 fans at the Chiles Center on Saturday. Portland (5-11) won its second straight game to improve to 2-1 in West Coast Conference play, while the Waves drop to 7-8 overall and 1-3 in league action.
The Pilots played suffocating defense for the second game in row, holding the Waves to 31 percent shooting from the field and 0-for-14 from three-point range. On Thursday, Portland limited the Santa Clara Broncos to 38 percent shooting in an 84-74 win.
Portland has struggled from three-point range all season, but found the touch on Saturday and finished 7-for-12 from beyond the arc. Portland shot 38 percent from the field and committed just 10 turnovers, compared to Pepperdine’s 14 giveaways.
After a slow start offensively to the game, the Pilots came alive late in the first period and ran off a 9-2 run capped by a Nicholas jumper to take a 21-15 lead. Back-to-back three-pointers by senior Nemanja Mitrovic and Bailey and a dunk by freshman Thomas van der Mars took Portland into the half with a 29-19 lead.
The margin would grow to 42-25 on another Nicholas jumper with 11:20 remaining, but Pepperdine had one last surge. The Waves pulled within eight at 47-39 with 5:56 remaining as the Pilots went nearly six minutes without a point. Freshman guard David Carr buried a corner three-pointer with 2:40 left to put the lead back to double-digits as the Pilots would hold on for the win.
Senior Taylor Darby led the Waves with 14 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Jordan Baker added 12 points off the bench for Pepperdine.
Portland will look to extend its winning streak as the team hits the road for a pair of games in the Bay Area. The Pilots will face the San Francisco Dons on Thursday at 7 p.m. and then take on the Saint Mary’s Gaels on Saturday at 8 p.m. live on Comcast Bay Area and tape-delayed for a 9 p.m. start on Comcast SportsNet Northwest. Both games will be aired live on True Talk 800 AM (KPDQ) with a 30-minute pregame show.
