St. Marys Gaels @ Portland, Saturday 6pm

goldhelmet wrote:Regarding the tie-breaker, I think it would go like this:

Since, SMC and UP split their series 1-1, then, as Geezer corectly stated,
it would go to how both teams fared against the top finishers in conference.

1. Gonzaga - SMC and UP both 0-2.
2. Then, assuming UP and SMC were tied for 2nd, it would go to the 4th
place team, and so on, until the tie is broken.
Right now, I believe that is USF, and both teams are 1-0 so far.

3. If it can't be broken, then it would go to RPI.

# We were very good in spurts tonight and got the win against San Diego. Need to put together a very good 40 mins on Sat. against St. Mary's. 12:34 AM Feb 12th from web

The Portland Pilots aren’t in the habit of handing out game balls, but Luke Sikma was deserving of one Saturday night.

And that’s just based on what the junior backup forward did in overtime.

Sikma scored the go-ahead basket with 47.9 seconds remaining and then came up with a crucial steal –- his second during overtime –- helping lift the Pilots to an 80-75 West Coast Conference victory over the Saint Mary’s Gaels at the Chiles Center.

T.J. Campbell finished with a team-high 24 points and Jared Stohl added 16 for the Pilots, but it was Sikma’s play at the end of regulation and his go-ahead basket, two defensive rebounds and two steals in overtime that spelled the difference.

“Luke’s a very good player, and you need your good players to make plays,” Pilots coach Eric Reveno said. “People talk about him not starting and this and that, but he’s someone that we needed to play well and he’s been very good for us. The overtime was no different tonight.”

With the victory, the Pilots (16-8, 7-3 WCC) earned a split of the season series and climbed within a half game of the Gaels (21-5, 8-3) in the race for second place with four conference games remaining.

Mickey McConnell led Saint Mary’s with a game-high 25 points, and Omar Samhan added 18 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out with 1:31 to play and the Gaels clinging to a 75-74 lead.

“We really wanted to win this one,” said Sikma, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. “It’s a big win now, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

Tied at 75-75, Sikma made one of his biggest defensive plays of the night when he tipped the ball away from McConnell, dove on the floor to get it, and then called timeout with 59 seconds to play.

After the timeout, Campbell drew a crowd as he drove the right side of the lane before finding Sikma wide open on the left side for an easy lay-in that gave the Pilots a 77-79 lead.

“T.J. being the great passer that is he found me for a pretty easy bucket,” Sikma said.

Too easy in the eyes of Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett.

“We didn’t do a good enough job defensively when we needed to,” Bennett said. “If we’re not going to defend better than that, then we’re not going to win these games against good teams.”

After Ethan Niedermeyer made one of two free throws to push the Pilots’ lead to three, 78-75, Saint Mary’s Matthew Dellavedova drove hard to the basket and then tried to get the ball to Ben Allen for a three-point shot, but Sikma deflected the pass.

Sikma redirected the ball to Campbell, who was fouled and made both free throws with 8.3 seconds left to put the game away.

“I just found myself in the right place at the right time,” said Sikma, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. “It was really all turned out well for us.”

The Gaels trailed by as many as 13 points, 53-40, early in the second half, but rallied to take a 72-70 lead on a basket by Samhan with 39 seconds left.

After the Pilots tied it on a lay-in by Campbell with 25.7 seconds left, the Gaels had a chance to win at the end of regulation, but Sikma stepped in front of a driving McConnell and drew a charge with 4.7 seconds left to force overtime.

"As a body of work, I thought it was a really good game," Reveno said. "For us to hold the best assist—to-turnover team in the conference to 12 assists and 15 turnovers, and then counter that with 16 assists and five turnovers ourselves, that was the game. The outcome was all about making plays late."

Another game ball should go to Jasonn Hannibal, the 6-foot-10, 270-pound junior center from Mississauga, Ontario, who made a huge impact with six points, a rebound, an assist and a blocked shot in 13 minutes off the bench.

When Hannibal first came into the game with at the 8:50 mark of the first half, the Pilots were trailing by seven, 23-16. He was on the floor for less than four minutes, but scored two baskets and played some solid defense against Samhan during that stretch as the Pilots pulled even at 25-25.

"That was big," Reveno said. "I think the key there was trusting him to be a good defender and make plays. The offense was a bonus, and then it gave our other guys some rest. We were trying to run at them a little bit there, but we were wearing T.J. and Jared down doing that."

Hannibal's play not only sent a jolt through the crowd of 2,774, but it also helped light a fire under the Pilots, who closed the half on a 15-2 run to go in front 44-35 at the break.

Hannibal then found himself back on the floor at the start of overtime and he scored the first basket to give the Pilots a 74-72 lead.

With the shot clock about the expire, McConnell threw up a wild three-point shot from the right wing that banked in to put the Gaels on top 75-74.

Samhan then drew his fifth foul when he bumped Robin Smeulders, who made one of two free throws to tie the score and set the stage of Sikma's heroics.

"I don’t think we let the lead get away at the end of regulation," Reveno said. "I think they made plays, so I didn’t feel like we’d lost momentum. We were in a brawl and battling away. We weren’t deflated at all. All the guys had big smiles. And five minutes is a long time.

"As it went to overtime, there was a sense of satisfaction that we were playing a good team, we were playing well, and you just enjoyed the moment. I would have been disappointed if that banked three would have been the reason we lost."

-- Jim Beseda

goldhelmet wrote:Regarding the tie-breaker, I think it would go like this:

Since, SMC and UP split their series 1-1, then, as Geezer corectly stated,
it would go to how both teams fared against the top finishers in conference.

1. Gonzaga - SMC and UP both 0-2.
2. Then, assuming UP and SMC were tied for 2nd, it would go to the 4th
place team, and so on, until the tie is broken.
Right now, I believe that is USF, and both teams are 1-0 so far.

3. If it can't be broken, then it would go to RPI. If both teams win out at 11-3,
then SMC and UP would both be 2-0 against everyone but Gonzaga (both 0-2) and
each other (both 1-1), so it would go to RPI. SMC would win that scenario, despite
tonight's crucial win. It's just too much ground to make up in four conference games
(unless, of course, SMC completely falls apart which is highly unlikely - but in that
case there would be no need for a tie-breaker ).

Let's just hope we can take care of biz, win out, and SMC stubs their toe somewhere. Much
stranger things have happened in the WCC over the years - a fact to which those who have followed this
conference long enough can certainly attest .

up7587 wrote:The write-up from Jim Beseda

As it went to overtime, there was a sense of satisfaction that we were playing a good team, we were playing well, and you just enjoyed the moment.

DaTruRochin wrote: I'll take Calabro any day over KJR reject Brian Wheeler...

PilotDrummer wrote:Photos, anyone:
http://www.sportspagemagazine.com/content/bb/mc-bb/g-mc-bb/portland-80-vs-saint-marys-75.shtml?38452

up7587 wrote:BTW, Drummer, nice close-up of the cowbell on ESPN2!

MesaPilot1 wrote:Whats the origins of this service Drummer, and are they a nationwide service?

Asked my wife if
our friends she brought to the St. Mary's game enjoyed it. Her response
was "Everyone enjoys a good OT win." Smart woman.