PORTLAND, Ore. – Senior center Philipp Hartwich broke the University of Portland career blocked shots record and the Pilots used a balanced scoring attack in a 78-67 victory over Hartford Tuesday night at the Chiles Center.
Hartwich recorded three blocks on the night and passed former teammate Thomas van der Mars for the all-time record. The Cologne, Germany native entered the game one shy of the mark and now has 123 for his career. He is leading the West Coast Conference by averaging 3.0 per game this season.
Sophomore guard Franklin Porter scored a career-high 21 points to lead all scorers for the Pilots (5-7), while freshmen guards JoJo Walker and Marcus Shaver Jr. added 18 points and 17 points, respectively. Sophomore forward Josh McSwiggan added 14 points, while Hartwich grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
John Carroll led the Hawks (5-7) with 18 points, while Jason Dunne added 12 points.
Walker sparked the Pilots early with 14 first half points highlighted by a pair of tough three-pointers as the Pilots carried a 45-33 lead into halftime.
Hartford quickly cut the margin to eight forcing a Portland timeout and then Shaver Jr. led an explosive 16-2 run with nine points and a pair of assists during. That gave Portland its largest lead of the night at 62-40, but the Hawks chipped away and cut the deficit 65-57 with some full court pressure defense. McSwiggan stopped the bleeding with back-to-back three-pointers and the lead would stay at double digits until the end.
Portland's freshmen guards were dynamic throughout as Walker added five assists and four rebounds, while going 5-for-8 from the field. Shaver Jr. matched his career high with six rebounds for the second straight game.
Franklin Porter finished 8-of-13 from the field in his 35 minutes of action.
Portland shot 57.1 percent from the field, the highest mark this season against Division I opponents. The Pilots also held Hartford to 36 percent overall and gained a 33-31 rebounding margin.
Portland concludes its non-conference schedule on Thursday against Sacramento State in the first game of a college hoops doubleheader at the home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings, Golden 1 Center. The Pilots and Hornets tip at 5:30 p.m., followed by Stanford and Kansas. There will be no television or video, but radio starts at 5 p.m. on 910 ESPN-Portland.