Portland, Ore. - The Pacific men's basketball team dropped a 72-69 game at Portland after an Alex Wintering three-pointer was good as time expired. The Tigers fell to 10-10, 2-6 in WCC action, while Portland improved to 12-8 and 3-5 in WCC play.
"I thought we played very well in the second half tonight," said Head Coach Ron Verlin. "Despite a game-winning shot, we lost this game at the free throw line and by not getting enough defensive rebounds. David and Dulani made some big plays and Eric is really upping his game rebounding the ball."
The Tigers fell behind 4-0, as Pacific missed its first nine shots from the field. Jacob Lampkin broke the drought with a tip-in as Pacific scored the next five points to take a 5-4 lead with 14:41 left in the half. Gabe Taylor scored on a layup for Portland, but a layup from Gabriel Aguirre and a jumper from T.J. Wallace switched it back to a 9-6 Tiger lead with 12:54 to play in the half. The Pilots then went on a 14-2 run over the next six minutes, getting four points from Thomas Van Der Mars to take a 20-11 lead with 6:43 to go. A quick 7-2 run with all points from David Taylor to cut the lead to 22-18 with 4:45 remaining. Portland finished the first half with a 31-26 lead.
Portland scored the first six points of the second half to take an 11 point lead (37-26). The Tigers chopped it back down to seven on a pair of free throws from Taylor and a basket by Wallace. The Pilots twice more had an 11 point lead, but the Tigers kept cutting into it and finally took the lead at 62-60 at 3:46 after a pair of free throws from Dulani Robinson. The last run was a 14-5 stretch that gave the Tigers the lead after they had whittled the Pilot lead to 54-46 with 9:40 left. After the Tigers took the lead, Portland scored four straight to take the lead back at 64-62 with 3:12 left. Aguirre and Robinson were each 1-2 at the line, as was Wintering for Portland to keep it a one point Pilot lead (65-64). Wallace missed on the Tiger side, then Kevin Bailey Portland a 67-64 lead after a jumper. Robinson and Wintering each hit a pair of free throws, to set up the final segment as Robinson hit an off-balance three-pointer to even it at 69-69 with :07 left. Wintering then took the inbounds pass and dribbled to about 25 feet and launched the game-winner.
Robinson led four Tigers in double figures with 17 points, with 15 coming in the second half. Taylor added 13 points, while Wallace and Thompson each had double-doubles. Wallace had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Thompson had 10 points and equaled his career high with 11 rebounds. Pacific shot 46.4% in the second half to shoot 40.7% for the game. Neither team shot great from the free throw line, as the Tigers shot 60.6% (20-33) and the Pilots were 14-26 (53.8%).
Pacific is next in action with a road game at No. 3 Gonzaga on Saturday, Jan. 24. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m in Spokane and it will be televised locally by Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.