LONG BEACH, Calif. – Freshman Austin Rapp scored a game-high 18 points and came up with a big defensive stop late to lead Portland to a 63-61 road victory over Long Beach State Saturday afternoon at the Walter Pyramid.

Rapp drilled five three-pointers and grabbed four rebounds, but it was his defensive effort in the closing seconds that secured the win. The Beach (1-3) had a chance to tie or win with the ball in Devin Askew's hands for the final possession. Rapp got switched onto the speedy guard, but forced a tough, fall-away three-pointer from the left wing that missed at the buzzer.

Max Mackinnon joined Rapp in double figures with 12 points, included a clutch three-pointer later. Vukasin Masic added nine points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Cam Denson and Ramel Lloyd Jr. paced Long Beach State with 15 points apiece.

Rapp buried five first half three-pointers in leading the Pilots to a 35-30 lead at the break. The Pilots led by as much as nine points early and outrebounded LBSU 21-13 in the opening period.

Masic made a runner in the lane and left wing three to give Portland its largest lead at 54-44 with 7:57 remaining.

The Pilots were up 63-55 with less than three minutes to go, but the Pilots were unable to convert offensively and LBSU used a 6-0 run to make it a one-possession game after Lloyd Jr.'s driving layup with 17 seconds left.

A missed front end 1-one-1 free throw by the Pilots set up the final defensive stop.

Portland shot 42 percent for the game and limited the Beach to 38 percent. Both teams corralled  37 rebounds and had 18 points in the paint, but the Pilots led for nearly 37 minutes of the contest.

Up Next

Portland will head east to compete next week at the Myrtle Beach Invitational in Conway, S.C. The Pilots open the tournament against South Florida on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. (PT) and then will face either Middle Tennessee State or Ohio on Friday. The other side of the bracket features Princeton, Wright State, Bradley and Texas State. All games will be aired on the ESPN Family of Networks.
 
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