Excitement was in the air as the Portland Pilots men’s basketball team tipped off the Terry Porter era in the Chiles Center Friday night. Many fans sported No. 30 “Porter” t-shirts and the men’s soccer team, on the cusp of their first WCC title since 2002, was honored for their feats in 2016.
The Pilots toppled UC Riverside in the Veteran’s day showdown, 71-55.
Senior guard Alec Wintering led all scorers with 24 points and flirted with a triple double. He added eight rebounds and eight assists to go along with his game-high in scoring.
Porter was pleased with fan turnout in the season’s opener and hopes for students to come in numbers throughout the season.
“The student section was loud and I thought overall we had a good sized crowd that really supported our guys,” Porter said.
The Pilots got off to a slow start in the opening minutes, but Wintering kept Portland afloat. He scored 12 straight unanswered points to give the home squad a 20-12 lead through 10 minutes of play. Portland took a nine point advantage into the break, 33-24. The Pilots shot 50 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and held the visitors to under 35 percent, including less than 23 percent from beyond the arc.
The Pilots kept the visitors at bay in the second half, only letting the Highlanders come within nine points. A quick spin move in the key by Wintering for the drop off to Hartwich left the Chiles crowd ‘oohing’ and ‘awwing’ at the 13:24 mark.
Junior D’Marques Tyson banked a contested three with 3:37 left in the game to put the home team up 15, breaking out into a smile as he ran back on defense. Portland would lead by as many as 18 points.
Wintering and Taylor chipped in 12 points each to lead Portland in the second half.
Johnson and Taylor joined Wintering in the double digit scoring column with 17 and 15 points, respectively.
Malik Thames paced the visitors with 18 points.
The Pilots will travel south for their second game of the season. They face the San Jose State Spartans in California on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.
