By Malika Andrews |
The Pilots started off the season with a 2-0 record against Concordia at home, and San Jose State on the road.
After trailing San Jose State the majority of the game, the Pilots were able to overcome a 13-point deficit late in the fourth quarter to beat SJSU 73-68 in overtime.
Senior forward Volodymyr Gerun recorded his first career double-double and tied the game with 23 seconds left to force overtime. Sophomore point guard Alec Wintering had a career high of 24 points and six steals against San Jose State. Senior guard Kevin Bailey added 22 points and six assists.
The Pilots defeated Concordia in their regular season opener 87-59 at home with help from Bailey and a combination of newcomers.
Bailey scored 22 points in 22 minutes of play, finishing nine of 11 from the field, with three assists and no turnovers.
“Staying out of foul trouble helped keep my momentum,” Bailey said. “In the last game I got going and didn’t hold back, which got me into trouble.”
While Bailey had no fouls, the Pilots did get into the bonus early with 23 fouls overall.
Bailey’s biggest play was a two-hand dunk over Concordia player Tyler Gutierrez which put the Pilots up 37-20 in the first half.
The Pilots led 39-20 at the half. They continued to build on this lead as Bailey put up his second dunk of the night. With the help of Bryce Pressley, Wintering and Bailey, the Pilots’ went on a 12-0 run, pushing them to their largest lead of the game at 51-20.
All 14 players saw playing time. The Pilots built an early lead, allowing all four freshmen and transfer junior, Max Livingston, to be on the court at the same time.
“It was great seeing the younger guys take the floor,” Bailey said. “I was telling Thomas (van der Mars, a senior) I didn’t want to come back in the game.
“He was shocked, but over the years I’ve never been able to just cheer. I have either been in really close games or on the losing side. So it was nice to sit on the side and watch the young guys get to play.”
Freshmen players were big contributors late in the game. Gabe Taylor scored six points and eight rebounds, guard D’Marques Tyson added seven points and guard Jason Todd scored four points and grabbed five rebounds.
“It felt good to get out there and compete with the guys,” Taylor said. “All of us are learning at this point, we are going to be together the next four years. So if we can just figure out how to play with each other and play effectively, it will all come together in the long run.”
Head Coach Eric Reveno was proud of the way the newcomers played together.
“To me, it looked pretty impressive,” Reveno said. “It wasn’t always pretty, and there are little things to improve on. But the wheels didn’t fall off and the sky didn’t fall. They kept going, each guy made some plays and did things they feel good about.”
The Pilots are back in Chiles Center on Saturday Nov. 22 for a 7 p.m tipoff against the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars.
Malika Andrews is a sports reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at andrewsm17@up.edu or on Twitter @malika_andrews .
