PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland shot a season-high 63 percent from the field and Chris Austin tied a career-high with 26 points to lead five players in double figures in a 92-60 blowout win against the San Diego Toreros Thursday night at the Chiles Center. The Pilots improve to 15-12 overall and 5-6 in West Coast Conference play with the victory.
The 32-point margin is the largest victory over a WCC opponent since a 79-39 decision over Loyola Marymount on Jan. 21, 2010. The five league victories are the program's most since the 2015-16 squad picked up six wins.
Moses Wood finished with a double-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Kristian Sjolund reached double figures for the fourth straight game and 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Tyler Robertson stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, four rebounds and eight assists, while Chika Nduka added 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
The Pilots shot a blistering 34-for-54 from the field, made 11-of-19 three pointers and 13-of-14 free throws while matching a season-high 23 assists in the dominating effort.
The defense was just as impressive with the Toreros (14-13, 7-7) being held under 40 percent over and Portland outrebounding San Diego by a 34-22 margin.
The Toreros scored the first five points of the game but Portland responded with a 12-0 run highlighted by a pair of Austin three-pointers and four points in the paint from Sjolund. A jumper by Nduka gave the Pilots their largest lead of the half at 39-26 and the home team carried a 44-33 lead into halftime.
The game opened up midway through the second half as Sjolund, Austin and Wood buried consecutive three-pointers to push the margin to 69-47 and the Pilots never looked back.
Portland will look to secure its second five-game win streak of the season and improve to .500 in WCC play when the Pepperdine Waves visit for Senior Night on Saturday. The Pilots will recognize Jack Perry, Miles Turner, Wyatt Watson and team manager Andrew Bitrous with a pregame ceremony before the 5 p.m. tip. Tickets are available for as low as $5 by visiting
PortlandPilots.com/Tickets.