PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland sent its two seniors out in style as the Pilots routed Pacific 80-67 on Senior Night in West Coast Conference men's basketball action Saturday night at the Chiles Center. Junior guard Alec Wintering scored a game-high 27 points, while senior guard Bryce Pressley added 15 points in his final game in front of hometown fans.
Pressley and fellow senior Max Livingston were recognized prior to tip-off with family members on the court in their final collegiate home game. Pressley wasted little time in making his impact, scoring 10 of Portland's first 12 points.
The Pilots (12-17, 6-10 WCC) would carry that momentum into a 42-33 halftime lead.
Portland extended the lead to as much as 16 points throughout the second half as the Tigers (7-19, 5-11) would get no closer than eight points down the stretch.
The Pilots converted 30-of-32 free throws in the game, including 14-of-16 by Wintering. He also added seven rebounds and three assists.
Pressley was 5-of-9 from the field and added four assists, three blocked shots and three steals. D'Marques Tyson and Jarrel Marshall chipped in 10 points each.
Alec Kobre had a team-high 12 points for Pacific, while Ray Bowled and David Taylor finished with 11 apiece.
Portland outrebounded Pacific by a 34-32 margin and shot 44 percent from the field and made 8-of-21 three-pointers. The Tigers finished at 41 percent overall and 6-of-25 from three-point range.
The Pilots have solidified at least seventh-place in the WCC standings and can still leapfrog Santa Clara for sixth place depending on next week's results. The Pilots will avoid the WCC Friday play-in game and are slotted into Saturday's WCC Tournament quarterfinals.
Portland will conclude the regular season with a road trip to BYU and San Diego next week. The Pilots visit BYU on Thursday for an 8 p.m. (PT) tip-off in a nationally-televised game on ESPNU. Portland then visits San Diego on Saturday at 6 p.m. That game will be televised regionally on ROOT Sports Northwest. Radio coverage for both games starts 30 minutes prior to tip-off on 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT).