PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's basketball team made 16 three-pointers en route to a 93-89 victory against the Pepperdine Waves at home Saturday.
The Pilots (9-15, 3-6 WCC) had five players score in double figures, led by Tyler Robertson, who had 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Juanse Gorosito added 19 points and six rebounds and Vukasin Masic helped out with 16 points and six assists.
Portland shared the ball well in Saturday's game, racking up 19 assists on 33 made field goals. The Pilots shot 55 percent overall and committed just six turnovers.
How It Happened
After four ties and 11 lead changes early, Portland went on a 9-0 run with 9:26 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Coleman Lemke, to take a 37-27 lead. The Pilots extended the lead and entered halftime with a 52-41 advantage. Both teams were on fire in the opening period with the Pilots going 9-for-17 from three-point range and the Waves knocking down 7-of-15.
Pepperdine cut the deficit to single digits early in the second half on an Ethan Anderson layup, but Portland answered with a 5-0 run on a putback by Yuto Yamanouchi-Williams to go up 59-45. The margin grew to 18 after Masic's layup made it 74-56 with 10:49 left, but the Waves refused to go away.
Pepperdine kept chipping away at the deficit and used a 10-0 capped by a Jevon Porter three to make it 92-89 with 43 seconds left. After a Portland miss, Porter had a chance to tie it, but his contested three came up short and Juanse Gorosito corralled the rebound with 3.4 seconds left and knocked down a free throw to ice the game.
Game Notes
» The Pilots made over half of their attempts from three point range, knocking down 16 of 29 shots.
» Portland never trailed in the second half on its way to victory.
» Portland tallied 19 total assists in the game.
» Five Portland players scored 10 or more points.
» Portland turned the ball over six times while dishing out 19 assists.
» Tyler Robertson led the Pilots with 24 points.
» Portland got seven rebounds from both Bol Dengdit and Tyler Robertson.
» Coleman Lemke provided 20 minutes of impact play off the bench, hitting a three and dishing out a career-high three assists.
» Chris Austin added 11 points off the bench on an efficient 4 of 6 shooting.
» The Pilots moved past Pepperdine in the WCC standings and are tied with San Diego in sixth place.
Up Next
Portland faces the top two teams in the WCC next week beginning with a road game against Northwest rival Gonzaga on Wednesday at 5 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. The Pilots then return home to face the Saint Mary's Gaels in a Saturday doubleheader at Chiles Center. The Pilot women face Pepperdine at 3 p.m. followed by the men's game at 5:30 p.m.
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