Portland Pilots (4-3, 0-0 WCC) vs. Long Beach State The Beach (1-5, 0-0 Big West)
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
TV: ESPN+
Radio: PortlandPilots.com
Live Coverage Links: Video I Audio I Stats
Tickets: PortlandPilots.com/Tickets

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots (4-3) return to the Chiles Center Wednesday to host Long Beach State in a non-conference game at Chiles Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
• Tickets for all UP home games are available at PortlandPilots.com/Tickets.

GAME COVERAGE
• All Portland home games will be aired live on ESPN+.
• Radio for all Portland men's and women's basketball home games – and select road games – will be streamed on PortlandPilots.com with Jason Swygard calling the action. Pre-game coverage begins 20 minutes prior to tip-off and ends with a 15-minute post-game show.
• Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
• Follow @PortlandMBB on X and Instagram for the latest team content.

LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas 76, Pilots 66 (Nov. 23, 2025 — Portland, Ore.)
• Portland could not overcome a slow start as the Tommies held on for a 76-66 win to close out the Portland Invitational presented by Courtyard Portland North Marriott.
• The Tommies raced out to a 18-2 start before Portland came all the way back to take the lead midway through the second half.
• Timo George led four Pilots in double figures with 17 points. Cameron Williams added 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Joel Foxwell helped out with 11 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Foxwell was named to the All-Tournament Team.
• Nolan Minessale finished with a game-high 24 points and five steals to lead the Tommies.
• Portland used a 10-0 run after the slow start to make it 18-12. George made consecutive buckets in the paint to pull Portland within three at 28-25. Kelson Gebbers drilled a clutch three just before halftime to make it a 36-34 deficit for Portland at the break.
• Matus Hronsky buried a three and then George had a putback dunk giving the Pilots their first and only lead of the game at 49-47 with 13:15 remaining. Minessale answered with a three-pointer on the next possession and the Tommies went back up 56-49. Portland cut it to 65-64 deficit with 4:14 to go but the St. Thomas responded and Portland would get no closer than six the rest of the way as a George dunk was all the Pilots could muster in the final minutes.

MORE WEEKLY HONORS FOR FOXWELL
• Portland freshman PG Joel Foxwell has earned WCC Freshman of the Week honors two out of the first three weeks after taking home the award on Monday.
• Foxwell averaged 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists while playing 35.3 minutes per game for the Pilots over three games last weekend at the Portland Invitational. He shot 49 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range.
• The Melbourne, Australia native also was honored Nov. 10 after leading the Pilots to a 3-0 start.
• This is the 12th time a Portland player has garnered the award over the last three seasons, which is nearly one out of every three opportunities and four more then the next closest institution.

FOXY OF TO FAST START
• Foxwell leads all freshmen in the WCC in scoring (15.1) and assists (6.0) and is second in rebounding (5.4). Among freshmen nationally this season, he is No. 1 in total assists (42), No. 10 in total points (106), No. 15 in 3-pointers made (14), No. 20 in steals (11) and No. 27 in rebounds (38).
• He recorded his first career double-double of 12 points and 10 assists to go along with six rebounds in Portland's 83-74 win against Arkansas Pine Bluff on Nov. 6.
• Foxwell flirted with a pair of triple doubles in three home games last weekend at the Portland Invitational.
• He went for a season high 24 points along with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in a 103-85 win against Cal State Fullerton on Friday. He followed with nine points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and two steals in an overtime loss to Northern Colorado and then capped the weekend with 11 points, seven rebounds and eight assists against St. Thomas on Sunday.

BALLEW IS BALLIN
• Sophomore G Mikah Ballew has come off the bench to average 12.3 points through the first seven games.
• He scored a career high 20 points in the opener vs. Willamette, added 15 points against Arkansas Pine Bluff and made clutch plays late in a narrow 67-63 win against UC Davis.
• Ballew has made 26 of 31 free throws – both team highs – and his 12 three-pointers made are second best on the roster.
• He was a key contributor last season off the bench for Portland and the most experienced Pilot returner in terms of minutes played and scoring.

FRESHMAN PHENOMS
• Portland's three true freshmen have all had major impacts out of the gates.
• In addition to Foxwell, F Timo George has come off the bench to average 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds. He is shooting 34-for-46 (.739) from the field and already has 13 dunks which is No. 13 nationally.
• Guard Dante Censori-Hercules has been a defensive stopper off the bench and appeared in six of seven games.

BALANCE IS KEY
• The Pilots were expected to have a balanced scoring attack this season and the first seven games have shown just that with four players averaging double figures.
• Minutes have also been pretty evenly distributed among the ten primary rotation players with each averaging at least 10.8 minutes per game.

BUILDING A WINNING ROSTER
• The Portland coaching staff focused on building the 2025-26 roster with experienced players from winning programs and Portland's five transfers fit the bill.
• Junior transfers Garrett Nuckolls and Cameron Williams were the top two scorers for Trinity Valley JC, which won the JUCO Division I national title last year.
• Riley Parker was a starter and team captain for St. Francis, which won the Northeast Conference Tournament to reach the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
• Senior F Matúš Hronský spent three years with Duquesne and played in two NCAA Tournament games in 2024, while sophomore C James O'Donnell was a key contributor for San Francisco, who won 25 games and played in the NIT.
• Additionally, Portland's three true freshmen all played for high level clubs or have national team experience: Timo George prepped at IMG Academy in Florida, Joel Foxwell played with pros in the Australian NBL and NBL1, while Dante Censori-Hercules competed at Hodan Prep, which has multiple alums playing in the NBA.

ABOUT THE RETURNERS
• Portland returns six players from last year's roster, three of which redshirted.
• Mikah Ballew averaged 4.9 points as a true freshman in 31 games.
• Senior C Jermaine Ballisager Webb started eight games and appeared in 29 total. He averaged 4.3 points and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 64 percent from the field, including 9-of-13 from three-point range.
• RS-sophomore G Kelson Gebbers played 19 games and averaged 1.7 points and 1.1 rebounds.
• Carlin Briggs, NaVaughn Long and Preston Lee each utilized their redshirt season. Briggs is returning from a knee injury and working his way back into playing shape. Long made his debut against Willamette and recorded two rebounds with a pair of assists. Lee also debuted against the Bearcats and scored five points with a steal.

STAFF UPDATE
• Portland added two new assistant coaches to staff this offseason in Mark Berokoff and Anthony Separovich, while Decclan Mclean was promoted to an assistant coach after serving two years as a graduate assistant.
• Berokoff brings vast experience to the bench with more than 400 career wins along with multiple state and national championships as a head coach. Berokoff most recently served four seasons as head coach at NAIA Oklahoma City University.  He led Randall University to three national titles and five national semifinals appearances in nine years (2012-21) at the National Christian College Athletic Association Division II level while serving as both head coach and athletic director.
• Separovich and Mclean are Australians that have helped solidified a strong pipeline for the Pilots Down Under. Separovich served as the AUSA Hoops Program and Recruiting Director from 2022-25. He was instrumental in recruiting, mentoring and guiding boys and girls players from Australia to earn college scholarships in the U.S. More than 500 student-athletes represented AUSA in AAU Tournaments across the U.S. in 2025. He helped place more than 100 student-athletes at U.S. colleges over the past three years, including a record 50 in 2024.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
• Portland's current roster features players from seven different countries including nine international student-athletes.
• The Australian pipeline continues to flow with four Pilots hailing from Down Under: Riley Parker, James O'Donnell, Carlin Briggs and Joel Foxwell.
• Throughout his five-year tenure with the Pilots, Legans has had nine different Aussies on the roster and 21 total international players from 12 different countries.

NATIONAL TEAM DUTY
• Four different players have been regular representatives on their home country's national teams either at the youth or senior level.
• Jermaine Ballisager Webb (Denmark) played on youth national teams from U15 on and represented the Senior National Team this Summer at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifiers. He averaged 10.8 points and 4.8 rebounds over four games as Denmark secured a qualifying spot.
• Timo George (Netherlands) helped the Netherlands U20 National Team to a fourth-place finish at the 2024 FIBA EuroBasket where he averaged 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He also represented the Netherlands at the U18 European Championships in 2023.
• Matúš Hronský (Slovakia) represented Slovakia at the 2021 U20 European Championships where he averaged 15.8 points in five games. Hronský also played for Slovakia's Senior National Team at the 2021 World Cup where he scored eight points in four games.
• Dante Censori-Hercules (Canada) also trained this Summer with the U-19 National Team.

ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE
• The Beach (1-5) have a win against non-D-I Nobel with losses coming against San Diego State, Fresno State, Pacific, Illinois State and Montana State.
• Gavin Sykes (12.8) leads three Beach players averaging double figures.
• Head coach Chris Acker is in his second season at the helm.

PORTLAND-LONG BEACH STATE SERIES HISTORY
Series: Portland leads 7-0
H / A / N: 4-0 / 3-0 / 0-0
Streak: Portland W7
Last: Pilots 63, Long Beach State 61 (Nov. 16, 2024 at Long Beach State)

WE'RE RIVERBOAT PILOTS, NOT AIRPLANE PILOTS!
• Though a 1935 student contest resulted in the nickname "Chinooks" (after the Native American tribe that inhabited the area, and the largest of the salmon species in the Willamette River), the "Pilots" was chosen by presidential fiat. From that day forward, The Bluff had a new mascot, and he was Wally Pilot.
• When the University changed its name from Columbia University (its earliest sports teams were known as the Cliff dwellers or the Columbias), to the University of Portland in 1935, the name and University had already begun to adapt a more "nautical motif," suitable for a campus site overlooking the Willamette River. At the same time, the Pilot athletic teams became associated with Wally (a stylized riverboat pilot), and the pilot's wheel became the logical logo.
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