PORTLAND, Ore. – Senior guard D'Marques Tyson hit six three-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points and freshman guard Marcus Shaver Jr. made a pair of free throws with 2.3 seconds left to give the Portland Pilots a 68-66 victory over the Loyola Marymount Lions in West Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon at the Chiles Center. The win gives the Pilots a season sweep of LMU and is Portland's fourth win in the last six games.
The Lions (7-16, 2-10 WCC), coming off of a big home win against BYU on Thursday, had a three-pointer by James Batemon rim off at the buzzer as the Pilots (10-15, 4-8) held on in an exciting back-and-forth game.
Tyson finished 7-for-9 from the field overall and made 6-of-8 from three-point range in recording a season high in scoring. Sophomore Franklin Porter contributed 12 points off the bench as all nine Pilots that played scored.
Senior Jeffery McClendon led four Lions in double figures with 15 points. Batemon finished with 11, but was scoreless in the first half and nearly seven points below his season average.
Tyson set the tone early by hitting five first half three-pointers as the Pilots raced to a 37-27 halftime lead.
The Lions roared out of halftime and buried 5-of-6 three-pointers to open the second half with a 19-5 run and take a 46-42 lead. Portland answered as Tyson buried another triple and then Malcolm Porter finished at the rim to regain the lead for the Pilots.
Franklin Porter converted a three-point and JoJo Walker followed with a pull up three-pointer to give Portland a 58-55 edge with less than four minutes remaining.
Pilot sophomore Josh McSwiggan broke a 61-61 tie with a pair of free throws and then freshman forward Tahirou Diabate drew a charge defensively. Franklin Porter hit two more from the stripe to make it a four-point game with less than a minute remaining in regulation.
Steven Haney then was fouled on a three-point attempt and buried all three to make it 65-64 with 44.3 left in regulation. Shaver Jr. made 1-of-2 free throws for a two-point lead, but Haney was again fouled on a backdoor cut and tied it with two more at the stripe.
Portland went back to Shaver Jr. once more and he got to the rim with ease and was hammered setting up the finish.
The Pilots shot 45 percent from the field, while LMU finished at 49 percent overall. The stats were pretty even in most categories, although Portland had just 10 turnovers and gained a 20-16 edge in points off of turnovers.
The Pilots carry the momentum on the road next week to face San Francisco on Thursday and then Pacific on Saturday with a chance to rise in the league standings. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. tip-offs and will be aired on TheW.tv. Radio coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on 910 ESPN-Portland.