Senior Night! Pilots vs. SCU 2/19 5:30 PM

WCC Standings on the Line When UP hosts Santa Clara
TV: CSN NW
Portland (18-9, 5-6 WCC) vs Santa Clara (16-12, 6-5)
February 19, 2011 • 5:30 PM • Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center - 4,852)
Radio: 800 AM (KPDQ)
Live Audio/Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: SCU leads 55-26
Last Meeting: SCU 72, UP 59 (1/22/11 at SCU)

This Week in Pilots Hoops…
The Portland Pilots will take on Santa Clara on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in the regular season home finale. Portland’s four seniors will be recognized 10 minutes prior to tipoff with a Senior Night presentation. The Pilots (18-9, 5-6 WCC) dropped an 82-73 decision to San Francisco on Thursday, while the Broncos (16-12, 6-5) lost 85-76 at Gonzaga.


Ticket Information
Tickets for all Portland home games are available through all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com, over the phone at (800) 745-3000 or in-person at the Pilot Box Office. The Box Office will also be open one hour before tip-off for walk-up sales.

Game Coverage
Saturday’s game against Santa Clara will be aired on CSN Northwest and CSN Bay Area with Scott Lynn and Dwight Jaynes on the call. All Portland games will be aired live on the radio on 800 AM (KPDQ) with Bill Johnson providing the play-by-play, including a 30-minute pregame show.


Portland Briefly...
• The Pilots dropped just their second game at the Chiles Center this season with Thursday’s 83-72 loss to San Francisco.
• Senior F Luke Sikma scored six points to become the 34th player in school history to score 1,000 points.
• Junior G Nemanja Mitrovic scored a career-high 26 points against the Dons.
• Sikma became the school’s top all-time rebounder last week at Pepperdine, passing Rick Raivio (1976-80, 910) and he now has 938 career rebounds.
• Senior C Kramer Knutson is the Portland career leader in games started (116).
• The Pilots are fourth nationally in team 3-point percentage (.421).
• Junior G Nemanja Mitrovic is No. 3 in the nation in three-point percentage (.483) and senior G Jared Stohl is No. 15 (.440).
• Mitrovic (83) and Stohl (77) have combined to make 160 three-pointers which is the most of any teammate duo in the nation. BYU’s Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery are second with 153.
• UP is No. 21 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
• Portland’s 58 wins over the last three years are the most of any three-year stretch since the Pilots joined Division I for the 1958-59 season.
• Portland is coming off of back-to-back postseason appearances and tied a school record with 21 wins last year. Head coach Eric Reveno welcomes eight newcomers to the roster, including seven true freshmen.


About Santa Clara (16-12, 6-5 WCC)
• The Broncos dropped an 85-76 game at Gonzaga on Thursday and remain alone in fourth place in the WCC standings, one game ahead of the Pilots.
• SCU overcame a 20-point second half deficit to defeat San Diego 60-56 at home on Saturday after a 65-59 loss to No. 23 Saint Mary’s the previous Thursday.
• SCU is led by sophomore Kevin Foster who leads the WCC in scoring (19.5 ppg).
• Junior F Marc Trasolini adds 11.7 ppg and freshman PG Evan Roquemore 11.0 ppg.
• Head coach Kerry Keating is in his fourth year at SCU with a career record of 59-66.
• Santa Clara was picked fourth in the WCC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Broncos dealt the Pilots a 72-59 defeat on Jan. 22 in Santa Clara.

Marks the first time I've ever been yelled at by a ref for playing.

Seniors Lead Pilots to Crucial Win over Santa Clara

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Senior center Jasonn Hannibal made the most of his first start this season by finishing with a career-high 15 points as the Portland Pilots knocked off the Santa Clara Broncos, 78-68, on Senior Night before 3,820 fans at the Chiles Center. The win moved the Pilots (19-9, 6-6) into a fourth-place tie with the Broncos (16-13, 6-6) in the West Coast Conference standings.

Senior forward Luke Sikma added his league-leading 13th double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while senior guard Jared Stohl chipped in 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Portland’s fourth senior, center Kramer Knutson, missed the game with a back injury.

Redshirt sophomore guard Kevin Foster had a game-high 29 points for the Broncos.

Portland never trailed by more than one point and ran away down the stretch, leading by as much as 17 points late in regulation.

The Pilots shot 51 percent from the field, made 9-of-17 three-pointers and 21-of-24 free throws. Santa Clara was held to 38 percent shooting, 9-of-26 from three-point range and made 13-of-22 free throws. Portland also gained a 35-31 margin in rebounds.

A three-pointer by Nemanja Mitrovic gave Portland an early 30-21 lead, but Foster would hit two threes to close the period - including a 30-foot buzzer beater – to pull the Broncos within 33-30 at the break.

Foster drilled another three to tie the game out of halftime, but Hannibal made a short hook shot at the other end and Sikma followed with a tip-in to put the Pilots up 37-33. An 18-4 run would follow later in the half to create separation and the Pilots made free throws in the closing minutes to secure the win.

Sikma, who is Portland’s all-time leading rebounding and scored his 1,000th career point on Thursday, fouled out with 1:39 remaining and received a standing ovation from the home crowd. Hannibal was interviewed on the court immediately after the game in front of a raucous student section.

The Pilots still have two regular season games remaining with a road trip to San Diego and Saint Mary’s next week. Fourth place in the league standings is critical, because it ensures a first round bye at the WCC Tournament. The Pilots face San Diego on Thursday at 8 p.m. and the Gaels on Saturday at 8 p.m. Both games will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest.

Newspaper Box Score
Santa Clara vs Portland

02/19/11 5:30 PM at Portland, Ore. {Chiles Center}
At Portland, Ore. {Chiles Center}
PORTLAND 78, SANTA CLARA 68

SANTA CLARA (16-13, 6-6 WCC)
Foster, Kevin 8-20 6-8 29; Roquemore, Evan 5-12 2-5 14; Dowdell, Ben 3-9 4-7
10; Trasolini, Marc 3-9 0-0 6; Payne, Troy 3-5 0-0 6; Santos, Michael 1-2
1-2 3; McArthur, John 0-0 0-0 0; Harrison, Niyi 0-1 0-0 0; Cowels, Raymond
III 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 13-22 68.

PORTLAND (19-9, 6-6 WCC)
MITROVIC, Nemanja 3-7 6-6 15; STOHL, Jared 4-11 4-4 15; HANNIBAL, Jasonn 6-6
3-5 15; SIKMA, Luke 6-11 1-1 13; DOUGLAS, Tim 2-5 5-6 10; RILEY, Tanner 2-3
0-0 6; RODGERS, Derrick 1-3 2-2 4; NICHOLAS, Ryan 0-1 0-0 0; BARKER, Riley
0-0 0-0 0; WATERFORD, Eric 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 21-24 78.

Santa Clara................... 30 38 - 68
Portland...................... 33 45 - 78

3-point goals--Santa Clara 9-26 (Foster, Kevin 7-16; Roquemore, Evan 2-4;
Trasolini, Marc 0-3; Cowels, Raymond III 0-3), Portland 9-17 (MITROVIC,
Nemanja 3-6; STOHL, Jared 3-7; RILEY, Tanner 2-2; DOUGLAS, Tim 1-2). Fouled
out--Santa Clara-None, Portland-SIKMA, Luke. Rebounds--Santa Clara 31
(Dowdell, Ben 6), Portland 35 (SIKMA, Luke 11). Assists--Santa Clara 11
(Roquemore, Evan 4), Portland 16 (DOUGLAS, Tim 6). Total fouls--Santa Clara
20, Portland 21. Technical fouls--Santa Clara-None, Portland-None. A-3820

MesaPilot1 wrote:Great game played by all in spite of the numerous turnovers...which the PILOTS can't afford in MORAGA to have a chance against MICKEY & the GAELS.

onetouchfutbol wrote:So great for Jasonn! Great move to start him. Anyone who did not get a chance to read the article about Hannibal in Portland Magazine a few months back should read it. He's a true student athlete...and his musical talents will be missed as well as his basketball.

PilotDrummer wrote:Thanks for four awesome years, seniors. Great game.

Marks the first time I've ever been yelled at by a ref for playing. I think they were just needing more cowbell.

One of the key plays in the game came early in the second half under the Portland basket when Sikma in-bounded the ball off the back of Santa Clara’s Ben Dowdell, grabbed the loose ball, scored and was fouled by Dowdell. Sikma made the free throw, giving the Pilots a 40-34 lead with 16:43 to play.

“My legs were shaking,” Sikma said. “Dowdell was standing there and didn’t look, and I guess it must have been the confidence of Senior Night or something, because I just decided to go for it.

“The ball didn’t exactly come off like I wanted it to. It came off to the side, but I was luckily able to get it and put it in. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

And, no, Sikma said he didn’t learn that play from his dad.

“It was in the movie ‘Like Mike’ with Little Bow Wow,” Sikma said. “Little Bow Wow goes to the NBA and throws the ball off Jason Kidd’s back. So, I wasn’t actually thinking of that as I was throwing it in. Not a great movie, but I decided to go for it.”

mattywizz wrote:A reference to "Like Mike" gotta love it. Morris Chestnut was spectacular as the basketball star who turned out to have a heart of gold.