LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Portland handled the Loyola Marymount full court press and led nearly start-to-finish in a 72-65 victory Saturday night in West Coast Conference men's basketball action at Gersten Pavilion. Following Thursday's win at San Diego, the victory gave Portland its first WCC road sweep in two years.

Sophomore guard Franklin Porter led four Pilots (8-13, 2-6 WCC) in doubles figures with 16 points off the bench. Freshmen forward Tahirou Diabate finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, while freshmen guards Marcus Shaver Jr. and JoJo Walker took the task of ball management and finished with 13 and 12 points apiece.

Senior center Philipp Hartwich was a force at both ends of the court for Portland. He finished with eight points, eight rebounds, matched his career-high with six blocked shots and dished out a career-best four assists. Hartwich also set the UP single-season blocked shots record as he has 56 already this year.

Senior guard D'Marques Tyson buried two clutch three-pointers to thwart a second half LMU rally, while sophomore forward Josh McSwiggan grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.

The collective effort was on display early and often. LMU came out with a frantic full court press and the Pilots exposed it with good ball movement to gain a 39-27 halftime lead. Portland raced out with mostly off layups and dunks from the broken pressure. The Pilots assisted on their first nine made fields goals and had 12 assists on 14 first half baskets.

The Lions (6-13, 1-7) got hot early in the second half and cut the margin down to two on a dunk by Donald Gipson to make it 46-44. Portland was resilient and pushed the margin back to double digits on Tyson's two threes.

LMU trimmed the deficit to four with less than a minute remaining with possession of the ball, but Walker came up with a big steal and Franklin Porter knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Pilots a 68-62 lead. Hartwich then blocked another shot on the next possession to seal the victory.

Portland shot 48 percent from the field and knocked down 8-of-20 three-pointers. The defensive effort continued to be on display as the Pilots limited LMU to 37 percent overall and 5-of-25 from three-point range.

James Batemon led the Lions with 18 points and Eli Scott added 17 off the bench.

Portland will return home next week and try to continue the momentum against No. 13 Gonzaga Bulldogs on Thursday at 8 p.m. Bleacher seats for that game are still available by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets or calling (503) 943-GO-UP.