ANAHEIM, Calif. – The backcourt duo of Alec Wintering and Jazz Johnson combined for 62 points as the Portland Pilots defeated the CSUN Matadors 96-78 to close out the Wooden Legacy Sunday night at the Honda Center.
Last year Wintering became the first player in school history with back-to-back 30-point scoring games as he went for 34 against Pepperdine and 31 against San Francisco. The Charlotte, N.C. native, who moved into ninth-place on the Portland career scoring charts after a 31-point effort on Friday versus Dayton, accomplished the feat once again on Sunday after finishing with a career-high 36 points. He also dished out six assists, finished 13-for-19 from the field, 4-of-4 from three-point range and collected two steals.
Johnson capped an impressive run at the tournament by finishing with a career-high 26 points and two steals. The Portland native averaged 22.7 points over the three games.
Senior Jarrel Marshall added a season-high 16 points for the Pilots, while junior Philipp Hartwich matched his career-high with seven points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Portland led by as much as 17 points in the first half and carried a 47-38 lead into the half.
The margin was cut to five at 57-52, but the Pilots (4-2) responded with a 9-1 run capped by a Wintering three-pointer and highlighted by a Marshall dunk.
The Pilots committed just six turnovers against the fast-paced Matadors attack. Portland gained a 21-12 edge in points off of turnovers and shot 51 percent overall while limiting CSUN to 41 percent.
Portland entered the game as the national leader in free throw percentage and was once again efficient at the stripe, converting 17-of-21 as a team.
The Matadors (2-5) had four players reach double figures led by 16 points from guard Darin Johnson.
The Pilots will return to the Pacific Northwest this week and host the Colorado Buffaloes of the Pacific-12 Conference on Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets for all Pilot home games are available by visiting
PortlandPilots.com/Tickets.