Portland @ San Diego, 5:30pm, Thurs. 2/16

Bailey Sparks Comeback, But Pilots Fall at San Diego in Overtime

SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- Portland freshman guard Kevin Bailey scored 18 points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of regulation to overcome a 17-point second half deficit, but the San Diego Toreros pulled out the 78-75 overtime victory on Thursday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Bailey, who scored all of his points after halftime, gathered a missed free throw with seven seconds remaining and rushed down the court. His pull-up three-pointer from the top of the key went through as the horn sounded to ignite the Pilots bench and push the contest to overtime. It capped a massive comeback as the Pilots (6-20, 3-10 WCC) trailed 60-43 with less than eight minutes remaining.

The Toreros (11-16, 6-8 ) immediately took control to start overtime as sophomore Dennis Kramer drilled a three-pointer on the first possession and USD took a six-point lead. Another three by USD freshman Johnny Dee with 17 seconds left made it 76-70, but Portland sophomore Tim Douglas answered with a three of his own five seconds later. A Kramer free throw made it a four-point deficit and Douglas made a runner before fouling Christopher Anderson. The USD freshman made one of two free throws for a three-point lead with 3.3 seconds left, and Douglas’ last heave from 40 feet went off the front rim.

Bailey finished 7-for-10 from the field and 2-for-3 from three-point range on the night. Douglas scored seven of his 11 points in overtime, while sophomore forward Ryan Nicholas finished with 10 points, including two key baskets late in regulation.

Kramer scored a game-high 22 points to go with 11 rebounds for the Toreros. Dee added 12 points, while Anderson finished with 10 points, a career-high 13 assists and five steals.

Portland shot 47 percent from the field and made 8-of-17 three-pointers, while the Toreros finished at 48 percent from the floor and 8-for-15 from beyond the arch.

The Pilots committed 11 first half turnovers, but just 16 total for the game. Portland also outrebounded the Toreros by a 37-35 margin.

The first half featured seven ties and five lead changes before the Toreros rattled off an 11-3 run to close the half with a 33-26 edge.

Portland will travel to Malibu, Calif. to play the Pepperdine Waves on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on FSN Prime Ticket and tape-delayed on CSN Northwest beginning at 11 p.m. All Pilot games are aired live on True Talk 800 AM (KPDQ).

NoPoNeighbor wrote:Looks like the free-throw shooting did us in again tonight.

Dug ourselves a hole and then battled back but lost in OT by 3 at USD. We are making progress but hurting ourselves with turnovers.