PORTLAND, Ore. – Joel Foxwell scored 23 points and Mikah Ballew drilled a clutch three-pointer late to help lead the Portland men's basketball team over the UC Davis Aggies 67-63 at the Chiles Center Sunday. The Pilots improve to 3-0, while the Aggies fall to 2-1 on the young season.
Foxwell drilled five three-pointers and went 7 of-14 from the field while adding four rebounds and three assists. Ballew finished with nine points including a layup late in regulation and wing three with less than a minute remaining to put Portland on top.
James O'Donnell was the only other Pilot in double figures with 11 points.
Portland forced 16 UC Davis turnovers and turned those takeaways into 16 points, including 13 in transition.
How It Happened
After falling behind 19-13, Portland went on a 10-0 run with 9:19 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Foxwell, to take a 23-19 lead. The teams exchanged leads five times and were tied on three occasions in the opening period. UC Davis led by as much as five late in the period but Jermaine Ballisager Webb's three-pointer just before halftime closed the gap to 32-31.
Another Foxwell triple tied the game at 34 early in the second half and the Pilots led for a majority of the period. O'Donnell's tip-in gave Portland its largest lead at 57-51 with 6:18 to go as the Pilots held the Aggies for more than four minutes without a point midway through the half.
UC Davis regained the lead on a Isaiah Chappell and a pair of free throws by Connor Sevilla made it 61-59 Aggies with 2:18 left. Cameron Williams came up with a steal and found Ballew streaking for a layup to tie the game. After a defensive stop, Ballew got free on the left wing and buried the clutch three to make it 64-61 with 50 seconds remaining.
The Aggies missed on a three-point attempt and the Pilots converted free throws to close it out. Portland held UC Davis to just 10 of 28 shooting in the second half and 3 of 13 from three-point range.
Game Notes
» The largest lead of the game was eight by UC Davis (19-11), while the largest Portland lead was six.
» There were eight ties and eight lead changes in the game.
» The Pilots held the Aggies to only 36.1 percent shooting from the field.
» The Portland defense forced 16 turnovers.
» Portland cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 12 offensive boards in the game.
» Foxwell led the Pilots with a game-high 23 points and has reached double figures in each of his first three college games.
» Portland got a team-high six rebounds from Timo George, who converted a thunderous alley oop from Foxwell late in regulation.
» St. Francis transfer PG Riley Clark (foot) and redshirt freshman G Carlin Briggs (knee) were unavailable due to injury.
Up Next
The Pilots will now prepare for their first road game of the season scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 15 at Wyoming. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. (PT) with live coverage links available at PortlandPilots.com. The Pilots will then host the Portland Invitational presented by Courtyard Portland North Marriott on Nov. 21-23 featuring Cal State Fullerton, Northern Colorado and St. Thomas.
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