Box Score
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Portland Pilots led from start-to-finish, and survived a late scare in regulation en route to an 80-75 victory over the Sacramento State Hornets at The Nest on Sunday night. Senior center Thomas van der Mars scored his 1,000th career point late in the first half on his way to 20 points and eight rebounds.

Senior guard Bobby Sharp added 16 points, including four free throws in the final 10 seconds to secure the win. Senior forward Volodymyr Gerun picked up his second double-double of the year with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore guard Alec Wintering added nine points, 12 assists and three key steals.

One of those steals and a couple other key defensive plays came in the final minutes as the Hornets (5-4) threatened. Wintering missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw with the Pilots leading 76-75 with 58 seconds left, but then forced a turnover on the outlet pass to re-gain possession. After another turnover, he disrupted a 3-on-1 fast break as the Hornets turned it over again with 10 seconds remaining.

Sharp then made two free throws to give the Pilots (7-2) a three-point lead and then Wintering knocked the ball away and off a Hornets player with five seconds remaining. Sharp was fouled and iced the game with two more free throws.

Sacramento State senior guard Mikh McKinney was a one-man wrecking crew for the Hornets. He finished with a career-high 32 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and seven steals in 39 minutes.  

Van der Mars finished the game 9-for-10 from the field and had 20 points in just 22 minutes of action while battling foul trouble.

Portland shot 53 percent from the field and made 9-of-20 three-pointers. The Hornets finished at 50 percent overall, but just 4-of-15 from beyond the arc. Portland committed 19 turnovers for the game which led to a 22-16 edge in points off of turnovers for Sacramento State.

Wintering was one assist shy of his career high of 13, set last season at home against San Francisco.

Portland improves to 2-0 in true road games this season and deals the Hornets their first loss in five home games this season.

The Pilots will look to continue their road perfection on Wednesday against UNLV in Las Vegas. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. with pregame coverage starting at 7 p.m. on Sports 910. The game will be video streamed live on CampusInsiders.com and a Pilot watch party will be hosted at Buffalo Wild Wings Lloyd District.