Box Score
Saint Mary's Holds off Injured Pilots, 70-61
MORAGA, Calif. --- Portland junior center Thomas van der Mars had 22 points and 17 rebounds, but the shorthanded Pilots lost to the Saint Mary's Gaels by a 70-61 margin on Thursday night in West Coast Conference men's basketball action at McKeon Pavilion.
The Pilots (15-14, 7-10 WCC) were without leading scorer Kevin Bailey and freshman point guard Alec Wintering due to injury. Head coach Eric Reveno shortened up his playing rotation and went with a big lineup featuring van der Mars, Riley Barker and Ryan Nicholas on the court at the same time for a good portion of the night. It paid off as the Pilots dominated in rebounding margin (34-25) and hung around until the final buzzer.
Nicholas added 13 points and eight rebounds, while junior point guard David Carr finished with 10 points in his second start of the season. Sophomore guard Bryce Pressley added 10 and seven assists for the Pilots.
Saint Mary's point guard Stephen Holt, a Portland native, finished with a game-high 26 points, including numerous clutch baskets and free throws in the closing minutes. Juniors Brad Waldow and Kerry Carter added 14 and 12 points, respectively.
After falling behind early the Pilots went with the big lineup and it immediately paid off with a 9-0 run to take a 13-12 lead. The Gaels (21-9, 11-6) were forced into a perimeter-oriented game in the first half as 20 of the team's 24 field goal attempts were from the three-point line. Saint Mary's was able to make eight of those attempts, but van der Mars and Nicholas combined for 19 first half points to make it a 34-30 deficit at the break.
Trailing by nine with 7:10 left, Portland used a 7-0 run capped by a Nicholas jumper to pull within 55-53 with 4:42 remaining.
The Gaels turned to Holt who hit a big three-pointer to beat the shot clock and then make five consecutive free throws to create separation as the Pilots struggled to convert on the offensive end.
For the game Saint Mary's shot 44 percent from the field, made 11-of-29 three-pointers and 19-of-25 free throws. Portland shot 48 percent overall, 4-of-12 from three-point range and 7-of-9 at the foul line.
Portland will conclude the regular season with a road game at Pacific on Saturday with WCC Tournament seeding implications on the line. The Pilots are tied with San Diego for sixth place in the WCC standings as the top six teams earn a first round bye. The Toreros host BYU on Saturday and a win over the Cougars would clinch at least the No. 6 position. A San Diego loss and Portland win would give the Pilots a first round bye.
Tip-off at Pacific is scheduled for 3 p.m. with radio coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Sports 910 AM. Fans in Portland are encouraged to gather at Buffalo Wild Wings Lloyd District for Pilot watch parties of all road games.
GIF Highlights:
Thomas van der Mars dominated the paint for Portland, collecting 22 points and 17 rebounds on the night. Thomas now has eight double-doubles on the season.
This jumper by Ryan Nicholas gave capped a 7-0 Pilot run in the second half to cut a nine point St. Mary's lead to just two with under five minutes to go. But Portland would get no close as the Gaels pulled away.
With two members of Portland's starting back-court out with injuries, Bryce Pressley carried a huge load playing 35 minutes, leading the team with seven assists and scoring 10 points, including two on this coast-to-coast layin.
David Carr got his second start of the season filling in for Alec Wintering, and played a season-high 30 minutes and hitting two three-pointers en route to a season-high 10 points.
