Box Score
Toreros Hold off Pilots Late in Regulation
SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- The San Diego Toreros held on for a 61-59 win over the Portland Pilots on Thursday night in West Coast Conference men's basketball action at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Pilots led by 10 early and had a four-point lead late, but the Toreros made enough plays down the stretch to hold on for the victory and sweep the season series.
The Pilots (15-12, 7-8 WCC) were without leading scorer Kevin Bailey (calf) for the third straight game, but junior guard Bobby Sharp filled in and scored 16 points. Junior center Thomas van der Mars added 18 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Bryce Pressley finished with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Portland trailed most of the second half before an 8-1 run capped by a pair of Bobby Sharp free throws gave the Pilots a 56-52 lead with 2:36 remaining. USD answered with a layup from Duda Sanadze and two free throws by Johnny Dee. Another Sanadze runner put the Toreros on top 58-56 with 1:00 remaining. The Pilots had three shots go in-and-out during the run and then Dee added two more free throws for a 60-56 lead.
David Carr finished at the rim to make it a two-point game with 20 seconds remaining and then Dennis Kramer made it a three-point game with one of two at the foul line. The Pilots missed a jumper, but were able to get a three-point look for senior forward Ryan Nicholas, but it was off the mark with five seconds left. Kramer missed a pair of free throws and Portland had one more chance with 3.2 ticks on the clock, but USD fouled Sharp before he could get a shot off with 1.2 seconds left.
Sharp made the first free throw and then intentionally missed the second, but Sanadze grabbed the rebound as time expired.
Dee and Sanadze finished with 15 points apiece to lead the Toreros.
USD made 15-of-23 free throws, while the Pilots were just 7-of-9 at the foul line. Portland shot 43 percent from the field, while the Toreros finished at 42 percent. Both teams hit six three-pointers.
Portland came out strong and raced to an early 10-point lead on back-to-back baskets from Nicholas. The Toreros (15-14, 6-10) got hot from the perimeter and closed the period with a 25-11 run to take a 35-31 at the break.
Portland will continue its four-game road trip at BYU on Saturday at 6 p.m. (PT). The game will be televised live on BYUtv and on the radio on 1080 The Fan (KFXX) with a 30-minute pregame show.
GIF Highlights:
David Carr had two highlight reel no-look passes on the night, the first coming on this beautiful assist to Ryan Nicholas.
Bryce Pressley filled the stat sheet with a do-everything performance, collecting 11 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal. His eight first half points – many coming on tough outside jumpers late in the shot clock like this one – helped keep Portland close as the Pilots trailed 35-31 at the half.
Bobby Sharp had 16 points on the night and hit three 3-pointers, including two back-to-back midway through the second half to cut San Diego's lead to one point.
Thomas van der Mars led all scored with 18 points on 9-13 shooting from the floor. Here, he finishes the second of Carr's highlight reel passes.
Ryan Nicholas gave Portland its first lead of the second half at the 3:52 mark with this tough reverse lay-in. Portland would go up by as many as four points, but San Diego closed on a 9-3 run to claim the two point victory.
