PORTLAND, Ore. – Bryce Pressley drilled seven three-pointers and scored a game-high 25 points as the Portland Pilots opened West Coast Conference play with a dominating 87-60 win over the Loyola Marymount Lions Monday night at the Chiles Center.
The Pilots (7-7, 1-0 WCC) trailed 19-11 early, but used a 23-0 run over a 7:14 stretch to storm back and gain control. Sophomore guard D'Marques Tyson hit two three-pointers in the last minute to give the Pilots a 46-26 lead at the break.
Portland held the Lions (7-5, 0-1) to 32 percent shooting in the period and had a 28-13 rebounding margin in the half. The Pilots also made 10-of-20 three-pointers in the half and finished 14-of-33 for the game from three-point range. Portland out-rebounded the Lions 47-30 overall.
The Pilots would push the lead to as much as 31 points late in regulation as head coach Eric Reveno gave his bench extended minutes. Portland gained a 38-25 edge in bench points led by junior forward Jarrel Marshall with 12 points and Tyson with nine points and four assists.
No Pilot logged more than 24 minutes, while leading scorer Alec Wintering played just 19 minutes after getting in early foul trouble.
Sophomore Jason Todd, who missed the last three games with a broken nose, helped ignite the first half run off the bench and finished tied for the team high in minutes played.
Junior center Ray Barreno finished with eight points and a season-high nine rebounds.
Portland shot 51 percent from the field and made 11-of-13 free throws. The Lions finished at 36 percent overall and struggled to 5-of-13 from the foul line. The Pilots also shared the ball well and finished with 22 assists.
LMU was led by junior guard Brandon Brown with 16 points and Steven Haney finished with 13.
The Pilots will look for the home sweep when the Pepperdine Waves (7-5, 0-1) visit for a nationally televised game Wednesday night at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. Tickets will be free for kids (6th grade and younger), while adults are being offer 2-for-1 general admission tickets for the Holidays. There will be a post-game autograph zone with the team as well.