PORTLAND, Ore. – The Texas State Bobcats wore down an injury-riddled Portland Pilots squad for a 91-68 victory in the final game of the Portland Classic Saturday night at the Chiles Center. Texas State won all three games in the tournament and snapped a four-game winning streak for Portland.

Senior guard Nijal Pearson erupted for 33 points en route to the Portland Classic Most Valuable Player award for the Bobcats (5-1). Pearson finished 12-of-18 from the field and knocked down six three-pointers. He added five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Pilots (5-3) were led by sophomore guard JoJo Walker with 17 points and four assists. Sophomore guard Marcus Shaver Jr. also finished in double figures with 13 points.

Portland's Josh McSwiggan and Franklin Porter were named to the five-player All-Tournament team.

The Pilots, playing their fifth game in eight days, were limited as starting center Theo Akwuba was the latest player to end up in street clothes and unavailable. Akwuba averaged 7.0 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in his last three games.

Portland jumped out of the gates with great energy and led by an 11-2 margin six minutes into regulation. McSwiggan buried a pair of three-pointers and the Pilots held the Bobcats to just 1-of-10 shooting to open the game.

Pearson heated up and scored the next 13 points for Texas State, but Portland still managed to hold the lead for all but 65 seconds in the first period. Pearson beat the halftime buzzer with a jumper from the wing to give Texas State the 36-34 lead at the break.

The Bobcats opened the second half with a 12-0 run highlighted by two three-pointers from Tre'Larenz Nottingham, who also was named to the All-Tournament Team. Portland cut the margin to 10 on a Porter three-pointer, but Texas State locked down defensively and held the Pilots to 25 percent shooting in the second half as the margin widened.

Texas State led by as much 25 points late as both teams emptied the benches for the last five minutes.

Portland was just 8-of-25 from three-point range and shot 35 percent overall, while the Bobcats were 13-of-27 from beyond the arc and finished at 51 percent from the field.

Texas State gained a 19-4 edge in points off of turnovers, 22-13 margin in second chance points and 32-18 advantage in the paint.

Portland will next be in action at Colorado on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. (PT) tip-off against the Buffaloes. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network, while radio coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on 910 ESPN-Portland (KMTT).

Portland Classic MVP: Nijal Pearson, Texas State

All-Tournament Team
Josh McSwiggan, Portland
Franklin Porter, Portland
Tre'Larenz Nottingham, Texas State
Donovan Fields, Cal Poly
Deion Holmes, USC Upstate