Box Score

Shorthanded Pilots Fall to Colorado State

LAS VEGAS, Nev. ---The Portland Pilots dropped a 70-53 decision to the Colorado State Rams in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena on Saturday night. The Pilots suffered a crushing blow early as second leading scorer Kevin Bailey broke his nose in the opening minute of action and did not return to the contest.

Junior forward Ryan Nicholas led the Pilots (6-7) with 15 points, while sophomore center Riley Barker picked up his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Senior forward Pierce Hornung scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Rams (9-2). Wes Eikmeier added 16 for Colorado State, which starts five seniors from a team that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

Bailey, who averaged 13.0 points entering the game and coming off a career-high 27 on Wednesday, played just 33 seconds before taking a hard elbow to the face. His status for Sunday’s game against Bradley is questionable.

Portland struggled offensively early without Bailey, shooting just 28 percent from the field in the first half. Nicholas kept the Pilots in the game with nine first half points and Korey Thieleke hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to make it 33-20 at the break.

The Pilots regrouped at the half and were able to cut the deficit to 51-41 on a Tanner Riley three-pointer with 8:09 left. Another Riley jumper made it 57-48 with 5:30 remaining, but Hornung scored eight straight points to give CSU the decisive lead.

UP shot 54 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 40 percent for the game. CSU shot 48 percent from the floor. Both teams struggled from the perimeter with the Pilots going 4-for-20 and holding CSU to 1-of-15 from beyond the arc.

The Rams entered the game No. 1 nationally in rebounding margin at nearly 16 per game and gained a 35-29 rebounding margin on Saturday. CSU was able to outscore the Pilots 50-28 in the paint.
 
Portland will now focus on the Bradley Braves (8-3) who dropped a 66-65 overtime heartbreaker to Virginia Tech in Saturday’s early game. The Pilots and Braves will tip-off at 6 p.m. and the game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.