PORTLAND, Ore. – Cameron Williams collected 25 points and Mikah Ballew added 20 and the Portland men's basketball team beat the Willamette Bearcats 120-83 at home Monday in the season opener at Chiles Center.
Williams tacked on eight rebounds and two steals, while freshman point guard Joel Foxwell also helped out with 18 points, five assists and four steals. Garrett Nuckolls added nine points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while freshman Timo George contributed 16 points and six rebounds in just 18 minutes.
Tanner Overby led three Bearcats in double figures with 18 points.
How It Happened
After falling behind 11-8, Portland went on a 12-0 run with 13:52 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Williams, to take a 20-11 lead. Portland pushed the margin to 14 points on two occasions before the Bearcats drilled four consecutive three-pointers in the final two minutes to cut the deficit to 63-56 at the half. Portland scored 32 points in the paint for the period, while Willamette drilled 12 of 23 threes to keep the game close.
Following intermission, Portland picked up the defensive pressure and pulled away down the stretch. Williams converted a three-point play to make it 75-63 and the Pilots used a 10-0 run to go up 82-63. The Bearcats got no closer than a 16-point deficit the rest of the way as Portland limited Willamette to 1 for 19 from beyond the arc after halftime.
The Pilots got a boost from the bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 30 of its 57 total points.
Game Notes
» The Pilots converted 37 of 53 free throw attempts, the most made FT's made by UP in a game since making 38 versus San Diego State on Nov. 27, 2002.
» The Pilots held the Bearcats to only 36 percent shooting from the field.
» Portland never trailed in the second half on its way to victory.
» Portland tallied 23 total assists in the game and shot 58 percent from the field.
» The Portland bench made an impact by adding 55 points to its scoring output.
» Portland had a 54-32 edge on the boards in the win.
» The Portland defense forced 18 turnovers.
» The Pilots were active in affecting shots on the defensive end, tallying six blocks as a team.
» Portland cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 13 offensive boards in the game.
» Cameron Williams was an efficient 10 of 14 from the field and 5 of 7 at the foul line.
» Mikah Ballew and Timo George came off the bench to score 20 and 16 points, respectively.
» Senior C Jermaine Ballisager Webb scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds in 10 minutes of action.
» The game served as the collegiate debuts for three Pilot true freshmen in Joel Foxwell, Timo George and Dante Censori-Hercules… Foxwell played a game-high 30 minutes and was 11 for 12 at the foul line and finished with 18 points, five assists and four steals… George was 6 of 7 from the field for his 16 points, six rebounds and three assists… Censori-Hercules added four points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.
» Redshirt freshmen guards NaVaughn Long and Preston Lee also debuted for Portland… Long had two rebounds and two assists, while Lee scored five points with a steal.
» Transfers Cameron Williams (Trinity Valley JC), Garrett Nuckolls (Trinity Valley JC), James O'Donnell (San Francisco) and Matus Hronsky (Duquesne) made their first Pilot appearances.
» St. Francis transfer PG Riley Clark (foot) and redshirt freshman G Carlin Briggs (knee) were unavailable due to injury.
Up Next
The Pilots continue a busy opening week with two more home games. Portland welcomes Arkansas Pine Bluff on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and then hosts UC Davis on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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