By Ben Arthur|
Guard Alec Wintering became fifth on the Pilots all-time assist list as Portland took down the Sacramento State Hornets 81-73 on Saturday night in the Chiles Center. Wintering’s game-high six assists brings his career total to 368, surpassing Gary Strachan’s 364 assists record set in the 1974-75 season.
Assistant coach Colin Pfaff sees Wintering as an invaluable asset to the team.
“[Alec] is the piston that makes the engine go,” Pfaff said. “His unselfish play and his willingness to create for others is, to me, top three in the WCC.”
On top of Wintering’s historic night, sophomore forward Gabe Taylor chipped in a career-high 17 points to help carry Portland’s offense.
The Pilots were cooking in the first half, shooting nearly 64 percent from three-point range. After back-to-back threes from sophomore wing D’Marques Tyson, senior guard Bryce Pressley stripped the ball from Sacramento State’s Cody Demps and lobbed the ball ahead to Wintering for the fast-break layup to give the Pilots a five-point advantage early. Wintering extended the lead to 11 following a steal of his own and taking it straight it to the cup at the 4:08 mark.
The Pilots took a 14 point lead going into halftime, 46-32.
Tyson led the way for Portland at the break with nine points on three-of-five from beyond the arc. The Pilots shot 50 percent from the field as opposed to the Hornets’ 34 percent.
Despite 10 turnovers, 24 points from the bench gave the home squad a cushion going into the second half.
A goal tending violation by junior center Ray Barreno highlighted a slow start for Portland in the second half. The Pilots shot as low as 19 percent and were ice cold from distance, going two-for-13 from three.
Sacramento State capitalized on Portland’s poor shooting by cutting the deficit to eight at the 6:53 mark with a coast-to-coast layup from Justin Springs. The Hornets made one last push in the closing seconds with a three-pointer from Demps to make it a six-point game at 79-73, but a two-handed flush from Taylor with nine seconds left sealed the game for Portland.
Taylor paced the Pilots in the second half with 14 points. Wintering matched Taylor’s career high 17 with 17 of his own, 11 of which came from the free throw line.
Demps’ 20 points led all scorers in a losing effort for Sacramento State.
The Pilots (5-6) will next face the Weber State Wildcats in the Far West Classic at the Moda Center on Friday, Dec. 18. Ben Arthur is a Sports Reporter for the Beacon. He can be reached by email at arthur17@up.edu or on Twitter @KingArthur_425
