Re: SMC @ Portland, Thurs. 2/23, 7pm

by Guest Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:10 am

Two observations from Nick Daschel's game report on O-Live:

Portland scored just four points during the final 13 minutes of the first half

scored just three points during an 11-minute stretch

That's only seven points over 24 minutes, or 60%, of the game. That is some bad offensive production.

by mattywizz Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:56 am

Yeah, I didn't watch much of the second half...or the second half of the first half for that matter.

by blacksheep Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:47 am

It wasn't any easier to watch from EACC. I know our team is young, but this was the second to last game of the season, and we were still experimenting with lineups. Going long periods without scoring while allowing them easy buckets is a not a winning recipe.

by **PilotNut** Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:12 am

Agreed on the painful; we just have no offensive production... which is sad at this point in the year. You could see the body language of the players and coaches--this game was over with about 14 minutes to go in the first half. pale

by DoubleDipper Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:15 am

It was terrific to see Eric come back so soon from knee surgery to play his final home game, and for Nem to come out firing and hitting. It was good to see both players’ families in the Chiles Center. What do you wanna bet Nem's dad worked with him to get his shot sorted out; let's just hope it holds up in Las Vegas.

Embarassed

The rest of the team? FLAT!! To quote Rev, "They (St. Mary's) played with better energy than we did." He went on to say, "We had some open shots. To score that ineffectively, it's a combination of poor offense and some missed opportunities. It was pretty heroic of us to hold them to just 48 percent shooting, because of all the layups" that came off 11 steals and a number of breakouts after St. Mary's rebounds.

by **PilotNut** Fri Feb 24, 2012 3:52 pm

No. 23 Saint Mary’s Knocks off Pilots on Senior Night

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The No. 23 Saint Mary’s Gaels clinched at least a share of their second straight West Coast Conference regular season title with a 70-43 victory over the Portland Pilots on Thursday night. Portland senior Nemanja Mitrovic scored a team-high 14 points on Senior Night, while fellow senior Eric Waterford returned from injury to make the start before 2,829 fans the Chiles Center.

The Pilots (6-22, 3-12 WCC) have one game remaining in the regular season, at BYU on Saturday at 3 p.m. (BYUtv). A Portland win would secure a No. 7 seed in the Zappos.com WCC Basketball Championships and a Thursday night matchup with No. 6 San Diego, while a loss would pit the Pilots in the No. 8 spot and an opening round game on Wednesday night against No. 9 Santa Clara.

Thursday saw the Pilots jump out to a 14-11 lead as Mitrovic scored nine quick points, including a pair of three-pointers in the opening five minutes. The Gaels (24-5, 13-2) responded by going on a 20-2 run over the next 9:24 and carried a 35-18 lead into halftime. It marked the second lowest first half output this season for the Pilots (16 at St. Louis).

Portland opened the second period with a 7-2 run to pull within 38-25, but Saint Mary’s would grow the margin to as much as 31 points down the stretch.

Portland struggled to 32 percent shooting from the field en route to a season low 43 points. Mitrovic was a bright spot as he found his shooting stroke and knocked down 3-of-4 three-pointers. Waterford, who missed the previous eight games with a knee injury, made his first appearance since Jan. 21.

Five Gaels reached double figures led by Clint Steindl with 15 points. Senior forward Rob Jones added 12 points and 13 rebounds, while junior guard Matthew Dellavedova finished with 12 points and nine assists.

Saint Mary’s held a 34-24 rebounding edge and 38-16 margin in points in the paint.

by NoPoNeighbor Sat Feb 25, 2012 10:07 am

Mitrovic had the hot hand. He spent WAY too much time on the bench. Our PG play was pretty bad. Not many points from that position.