Portland Pilots (7-5, 0-0 WCC) at UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (8-4, 2-0 Big West)
Date: Monday, Dec. 22, 2025
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Place: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Arena: The Thunderdome
TV: ESPN+
Live Coverage Links: Video | Stats

COMING UP
• The Pilots (7-5) conclude non-conference action Monday on the road against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (8-4) with a 2 p.m. tip-off at The Thunderdome.
• Portland will open West Coast Conference action with a pair of home games against Washington State on Sunday, Dec. 28 at 2 p.m. and then versus Santa Clara on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m.
•Tickets for Portland home games are available at PortlandPilots.com/Tickets.

GAME COVERAGE
• The UC Santa Barbara game will be aired live on ESPN+.
• Pilot radio this season includes all men's and women's home games, as well as select road games, streamed live on PortlandPilots.com with Jason Swygard calling the action. Monday's game will not be on the radio.
• Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.

LAST TIME OUT: Oregon 94, Pilots 69 (Dec. 17, 2025 — Eugene, Ore.)
• Freshman PG Joel Foxwell scored 21 points but the Oregon Ducks pulled away late Wednesday night at Matthew Knight Arena.
• Foxwell led three Pilots in double figures and also dished out eight assists. Mikah Ballew added 10 points and Timo George helped out with 10 points off of the bench. Cameron Williams corralled a team high 11 rebounds before fouling out.
• Portland forced 15 Oregon turnovers and turned those takeaways into 15 points on the other end of the floor.
• Perimeter shooting and free throws proved to be the difference as Oregon drilled 13 three-pointers to Portland's five and went 19-for-23 at the foul line, while the Pilots were 11-of-14.
• Foxwell was dominant early scoring 13 points with five assists in the first half. He scored or assisted on six consecutive possessions capped by a wing three-pointer to tie the game at 15-15. Oregon was able to create some separation and a three at the halftime buzzer from Jackson Shelstad made it 51-41 at the break.
• The Pilots opened the second half with a three-pointer from Ballew to pull within 51-44, but Oregon raced out to a 76-55 advantage. Jermaine Ballisager Webb's layup shrunk the deficit to 76-60, but Oregon responded and outscored the Pilots the rest of the way.

FOXWELL EARNS MORE WCC WEEKLY HONORS
• Freshman PG Joel Foxwell picked up his third WCC Freshman of the Week award on Dec. 15 after his 11-point, 15-assist effort in the win over Kent State. The 15 assists matched the program record established by fellow Aussie Tyler Robertson in a Dec. 10, 2022 home win against New Orleans. It is also tied for third most in a game this year nationally.
• The Melbourne, Australia native now has two double-doubles on the season, while he has dished out 10 or more assists four times. He is the WCC leader in assists per game (7.1), which also ranks sixth nationally and No. 1 among freshmen.
• The award marked the 13th time a Portland player has garnered the WCC Freshman of the Week honors over the last three seasons, which is nearly one out of every three opportunities and five more then the next closest institution.

WILLIAMS DOING WORK
• Junior F Cameron Williams recorded his third 20-point game of the season in a Dec. 14 win against Kent State. He followed with a season high 11 rebounds at Oregon.
• Williams, a first team JC All-American and national champion with Trinity Valley JC last season, has adjusted well to the Division I level. He is shooting 56 percent from the field and 78 percent at the foul line and grabbing 5.3 rebounds per game.

O'DONNELL OBLITERATES CAREER HIGH
• Sophomore F James O'Donnell more than doubled his previous career high with 32 points in the win against Lewis & Clark on Dec. 5. His prior high was 15 points.
• O'Donnell also collected his first double-double with 10 rebounds in the contest.
• The transfer from San Francisco is now averaging 10.8 points and a team best 5.8 rebounds per game. He is shooting 63.5 percent from the field.

BALLEW IS BALLIN
• Sophomore G Mikah Ballew moved into the starting lineup for the last five games is averaging 11.9 points this season, including nine double figure games. Ballew's 23 three-pointers made are tops on the roster.
• 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.
• 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
• In addition to Foxwell, freshman F Timo George has been a consistent force for the Pilots. He is the team's No. 2 scorer (13.0) and his 5.0 rebounds per game are also second among WCC freshmen. He has reached double figures in 10 of 12 games despite playing just 20.1 minutes per game.
• George is one field goal made shy of qualifying to be among the NCAA leaders in FG percentage. His 69.4 percent from the field would rank No. 4 nationally and lead the WCC.

ABOUT THE RETURNERS
• Portland returns six players from last year's roster, three of which redshirted.
• Mikah Ballew averaged 4.9 points as a freshman in 31 games. Senior C Jermaine Ballisager Webb started eight games, appeared in 29 and averaged 4.3 points and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 64 percent from the field.
• 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 UC SANTA BARBARA
• The Gauchos (8-4, 2-0 Big West) enter Monday's game with back-to-back losses to Utah Valley and Green Bay. UCSB's other losses were to LMU in overtime and at Nevada. Notable wins came against Seattle U, Long Beach State and San Jose State.
• Aidan Mahaney, a former Saint Mary's Gael, leads four Gauchos averaging double figures at 14.9 per game.
• Head coach Joe Pasternack is in his ninth season at the helm.

PORTLAND-UC SANTA BARBARA SERIES HISTORY
Series: UC Santa Barbara leads 7-5
H / A / N: 3-2 / 2-5 / 0-0
Streak: Portland L2
Last 10 / 5: 5-5 / 2-3
Last: Gauchos 94, Pilots 53 (Nov. 9, 2024 at UP)

HRONSKY FINDING A RHYTHM
• Duquesne senior transfer Matus Hronsky has reached double figures in three of the last six games and has made 7 of his last 12 three-point attempts.
• He had 12 points against Northern Colorado and followed with 10 versus St. Thomas and then matched a career high with 16 against 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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