PORTLAND¸Ore. – All five Portland starters reached double figures and the Pilots held Pepperdine to 24 second half points in a 69-52 West Coast Conference win Thursday night at the Chiles Center. It marked the third straight game that the Pilots held an opponent under 60 points, all Pilot victories.

Sophomore point guard Alec Wintering finished with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals to lead the Pilots (15-10, 6-7 WCC). Senior guard Kevin Bailey had 15 points, three rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots.

Senior center Thomas van der Mars had 12 points, while senior forward Volodymyr Gerun and junior guard Bryce Pressley added 10 each.

The Waves (15-10, 8-6) were led by junior forward Stacy Davis with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but he committed six turnovers. Sophomore guard Amadi Udenyi added 14 points, but had to be carried off the court with a lower leg injury in the closing minutes.

The teams traded leads four times in the opening minutes before Portland held the Waves scoreless for a 4-minute, 32-second stretch and took an 18-12 lead on a Pressley layup. The Pilots would lead by as much as seven in the first half, but a Davis layup with 29 seconds left made it 30-28 at the break.

Portland never relinquished the leader after halftime and used a 10-2 run capped by a Jason Todd three-pointer to gain a 52-40 advantage. Back-to-back threes from Udenyi cut the deficit to six, but the Pilots answered with a 7-0 run and would lead by as much as 19 points late in regulation.

The Pilots shot 58 percent from the field in the second half and held Pepperdine to 32 percent in the period. For the game, Portland shot 51 percent and the Waves finished at 36 percent.

Defense has been key to Portland's three-game winning streak, which began with road wins at San Francisco (69-57) and Santa Clara (74-54) last week. All three opponents were held to 36 percent shooting from the field. Portland also outrebounded all three teams by double digits.

On Thursday, the Pilots controlled the glass with a 39-26 rebounding edge and 36-24 margin in points in the paint.

Portland will look to continue the win streak when the Loyola Marymount Lions (8-18, 4-10) visit the Chiles Center on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. LMU dropped an 80-51 decision at Gonzaga on Thursday night, but defeated the Pilots 80-68 in Los Angeles on Jan. 15.

The game will be televised live on ROOT Sports NW with Tom Glasgow and Jack Sikma calling the action. All Portland games are on the radio on Sports 910 (KMTT) with pregame coverage starting 30 minutes prior to tip-off. Tickets start at $10 for adults and $5 for kids and seniors.

GIF HIGHLIGHTS:


Kevin Bailey had 15 points to lead the Pilots, and threw down this highlight reel dunk in the second half off a beautiful assist from Alec Wintering.


Wintering also had 15 points for the Pilots to go along with six rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Here, he steals the ball and takes it coast-to-coast in the first half.


Bryce Pressley continued his hot play of late while scoring 10 points, including this lay-on off an incredible full-court pass from Jason Todd.


Voldy Gerun  paced the Pilots early, nearly collecting a double-double in the first half with six points and seven rebounds. He finished with 10 points after battling foul trouble in the second half.


Thomas van der Mars was the fifth Pilot starter in double-figures, collecting 12 points and six rebounds.