PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots held Pacific to 32 percent shooting and gutted out a 64-56 win Thursday in the team's West Coast Conference home opener at the Chiles Center. Moses Wood led four Pilots in double figures with 19 points, while Tyler Robertson picked up a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Chris Austin scored 13 of his 15 total points in the second half, including numbers big buckets late in regulation. Freshman forward Chika Nduka reached double figures for the fourth time in the last five games with 10 points and four rebounds before fouling out.
The Pilots (11-9, 2-3 WCC) snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Tigers (5-13, 0-4) and the team's 11 overall wins match the program's most since the 2015-16 season.
First-year head coach Shantay Legans' squad has led by at least seven points in the first half of each of its first five WCC games and Thursday night the team was able to come back and finish strong down the stretch.
With the Pilots trailing 47-45, Austin made a jumper in the paint and two free throws to put the Pilots ahead. Portland got a defensive stop and Wood made a layup in transition for a 51-47 lead to force a Pacific timeout with 3:29 left. Austin scored four more points on the next two possessions to make it 55-49.
Alphonso Anderson replied with a pair of free throws, but Tyler Robertson converted a putback on his own miss for a 57-51 edge and 51 seconds to go. Wood made four straight free throws and Robertson added two more in the closing seconds to secure the victory.
Portland shot 42 percent overall and finished 21-for-26 from the free throw line, while the Tigers were just 14-of-23 at the charity stripe. The Pilots gained a 40-34 rebound margin and 26-18 edge on points in the paint, but the Tigers had an 18-0 advantage in bench points.
Anderson paced Pacific with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Nick Blake added 14 points off the bench.
Both teams struggled offensively in the early going as the Tigers shot just 24 percent in the first half and the Pilots 35 percent. Portland jumped out to a 7-0 lead to open the game, but Pacific used a 7-0 run midway through the half and 9-of-12 from the free throw line to take a 25-24 lead into the break. Wood and Anderson scored 10 points apiece in the period.
Portland will continue WCC play on Saturday at No. 2 Gonzaga. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. with television coverage on ROOT Sports Northwest and on the radio at 910 ESPN Portland (KMTT).