PORTLAND, Ore. – Ahmed Ali scored 22 points to lead the Portland Pilots to an 83-73 win over William Jessup on Saturday in the U.S. Bank Portland Invitational at the Chiles Center. Ali added a team-high seven rebounds and five assists, while Latrell Jones and Eddie Davis contributed 11 points each for the Pilots (1-1).

All ten Portland players that saw action scored as the Pilots jumped out to a nine-point halftime lead over the NAIA Warriors, but William Jessup hung around late in regulation

Ali buried back-to-back three-pointers and then Takiula Fahrensohn knocked another down to spark an 11-3 run midway through the second half. Chase Adams capped the surge with a runner in the lane to make it a 68-57 margin.

The Warriors cut the deficit to six on a Tim Strijaous triple, but Portland sealed it with six straight points – including a driving layup from Isiah Dasher – to go ahead 76-64 with 3:19 remaining.

Strijaous finished with a team-high 17 points and added six rebounds and four assists off the bench to pace William Jessup.

Both teams shot 52 percent from the field, but the Pilots were able to convert 20-of-25 free throw attempts compared to just 3-of-3 for the Warriors.

Portland also forced 19 turnovers and racked up a 21-13 margin in points off of turnovers and 24-9 edge in fast break points.

The Pilots continue to work on melding nine newcomers to the roster with just four active returning lettermen from a year ago.

Junior Clythus Griffith Jr. was instant offense off the bench for the second straight game with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, while collecting four steals. Davis grabbed seven rebounds to go with his 11 points and graduate transfer Michael Henn provided 27 solid minutes and finished with eight points.

Freshman forward Hayden Curtiss provided a boost off the bench with seven points in 11 minutes.

The Pilots will conclude the U.S. Bank Portland Invitational against another NAIA opponent, Northwest University, on Sunday at noon.