PORTLAND, Ore. – For the second time in West Coast Conference play this season Portland sophomore point guard Alec Wintering had the ball in the closing seconds of a tie game. Each time he buried a three-pointer at the buzzer for the win. The latest came Thursday night as the Pilots escaped with a 72-69 win over the Pacific Tigers at the Chiles Center.
Wintering also hit a buzzer beater in a road win at San Diego on Dec. 27 for a 61-58 victory.
Both games had a similar screenplay for the sophomore guard from Charlotte, N.C. He was 3-for-10 in the win at USD and finished 2-for-8 from the floor against Pacific (10-10, 2-6 WCC), but with the game on the line he came through.
"I'm always confident and think that my next shot is going in," Wintering said outside Portland's locker room. "We ran a similar play both times and I just stepped back and got a good look."
With Portland's most effective player Thursday night fouled out and the Pilots missing multiple free throws down the stretch, overtime was not an ideal situation after giving up an 11-point second half lead.
Wintering – who finished with eight points, seven assists and four rebounds while battling a hip injury – continued his memorable sophomore campaign in style.
Van der Mars kept Portland (12-8, 3-5) on top for most of the night with 17 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 3:46 remaining. Senior guard Kevin Bailey added a game-high 21 points for the Pilots.
Dulani Robinson had a team-high 17 points off the bench for the Tigers to lead four players in double figures. T.J. Wallace (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Eric Thompson (10 points, 11 rebounds) each tallied double-doubles.
Portland had three 11-point leads in the second half, the last on a van der Mars dunk with 12:30 remaining. Pacific chipped away and used a 12-4 run capped by a Thompson jumper to tie the game at 58-58 with 5:59 remaining. It marked the first tie since the score was 10-10 early in the first half.
Bailey hit a baseline jumper with 38 seconds left to give the Pilots a 67-64 lead. Robinson and Wintering each made a pair of free throws and then Robinson tied the game at 69 with a fade-away three-pointer with eight seconds left. After a Pilot timeout, Wintering came across midcourt and used a screen to get some separation before drilling the winner.
Portland will now shift its focus to the Saint Mary's Gaels (15-4, 7-1), who sit alone in second place in the WCC standings after a 68-47 loss at No. 3 Gonzaga on Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and Pilot fans are encouraged to wear black as part of blackout night. Black rally towels will be handed out at the main entrance. The game will be aired live on TheW.tv and on the radio on Sports 910 (KMTT).