Box Score
Video Highlights, Reaction

Big Second Half Gives Pilots Sweep of Lions

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland outscored Loyola Marymount 42-28 in the second half and pulled out a 71-64 victory in West Coast Conference action Thursday night at the Chiles Center. Ryan Nicholas led four Pilots in double figures with 16 points, while Thomas van der Mars added 14 points and 10 rebounds. The win completes a season sweep of the Lions as Portland defeated LMU 71-57 in Los Angeles on Jan. 16.

The Pilots (14-11, 6-7 WCC) played without leading scorer Kevin Bailey (16.5 ppg) who was sidelined with a calf injury. It marked the first time this season that Portland's starting lineup changed as junior guard Bobby Sharp made the start in place of Bailey.

LMU took advantage early and raced to a 14-point lead late in the first period, but Portland used a 9-2 run before halftime to pull within 36-29 at the break.

For the second straight game Portland came out firing early in the second half, erasing the deficit and taking a 12-point lead midway through the period. Nicholas and Sharp drilled back-to-back three-pointers to give Portland a 43-38 edge, then the Pilots scored eight straight points highlighted by dunks from Riley Barker and Korey Thieleke.

Bryce Pressley's three-pointer made it 58-46 with 9:13 remaining, but the Lions (11-15, 3-11) had one last surge. A layup by Anthony Ireland pulled LMU within 65-61, but Nicholas buried a baseline jumper with 1:38 left.  Van der Mars' hook shot pushed the margin to seven and Sharp hit a pair of free throws for the final tally.

Pressley, the WCC's leader in three-point percentage entering the game at 50 percent, drilled 4-of-7 from beyond the arc and finished with 14 points. Sharp added 11 points, while freshman point guard Alec Wintering dished out 10 assists with just one turnover.

LMU freshman guard Evan Payne scored a game-high 21 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field. Ireland, the second leading scorer in the WCC, finished with 15 points and six assists.

Portland shot 49 percent from the field and limited the Lions to 38 percent overall. LMU made 19-of-26 free throws compared to 7-of-12 for the Pilots.

Portland will have a quick turnaround before hosting the Pepperdine Waves (14-12, 7-7 WCC) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Chiles Center. The Waves are half a game ahead of the Pilots in fifth place in the league standings. It is the WCC Game of the Week and will be televised live on ROOT Sports NW, Comcast California, and TWC SportsNet with a 30-minute pregame show. Radio coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. on Sports 910.

GIF Highlights:
















Bobby Sharp helped ignite a 14-0 Pilot rally to start the second half with one of his three three-pointers on the night.
















Ryan Nicholas, who led Portland with 16 points, gave the Pilots a 40-38 lead they would never look back from with this three pointer early in the second half.

















Korey Thieleke brought the Chiles Center faithful to their feet with this beautiful putback dunk.

















Bryce Pressley had an excellent all-around game, filling the stat sheet with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, and hit four three pointers on the night.

















Thomas van der Mars had 14 points and kept the Pilots afloat in the first half as the team was struggling to find points. This late hook was the dagger that put the game away for Portland.