CONWAY, S.C. – The Portland men's basketball team overcame an 11-point second half deficit to tie the game late, but fell 74-68 to South Florida Thursday in the opening round of the Myrtle Beach Invitational at the HTC Center. Max Mackinnon led the way for Portland with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

The closing minutes were controversial as Portland had the ball down two with 1:35 remaining and were calling a timeout in front of the Pilot bench, but the referee did not grant the stoppage and South Florida stole the ball and scored an uncontested layup to go up two possessions.

The Pilots responded with a corner three-pointer from Vincent Delano and got another defensive stop, but Delano's runner in the lane was blocked with 32 seconds left and South Florida made two free throws for a 71-68 lead. Austin Rapp's three-pointer missed and the Bulls (3-2) iced the game with more free throws in the final seconds.

Delano scored 14 points off the bench, while Rapp added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Pilots (2-3).

Kobe Knox led four Bulls in double figures with 13 points.

The Pilots came out firing and buried their first five three-point attempts, including three from Rapp, to race out to a 16-5 lead. The Bulls answered and chipped away before a late 7-0 run put USF on top. It went to halftime with the Bulls leading 38-33.

South Florida extended the margin to 51-40 on a De'Ante Green putback with 13:17 remaining before the Pilots found a groove on offense and chipped away at the deficit. Playing a lineup of three freshmen, a sophomore and junior, Portland got big baskets from Delano, freshman guard Mikah Ballew and redshirt sophomore Bol Dengdit along with consistent production from Mackinnon.

A pair of free throws from Delano tied the game 65 with 2:05 remaining before a questionable block/charge call went against Rapp in the post giving USF two free throws before the timeout debacle.

Portland shot 37 percent overall compared to 42 percent for the Bulls. South Florida gained a 40-38 rebounding advantage, while the Pilots had an 18-7 edge in points off turnovers.

Up Next

It will be a quick turnaround as Portland will face the Ohio Bobcats Friday at 8:30 a.m. (PT) in the consolation semifinals of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. Ohio dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Middle Tennessee State in the tournament's opening game.
 
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