UP Bests USF in San Francisco 69-57
By Mary Harvill
March 6, 2013; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Portland Pilots guard Kevin Bailey (00) during player introductions against the Loyola Marymount Lions before the game of the WCC Basketball Championships at Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Portland turned the tables on San Francisco beating the Dons at home 69-57 Thursday, February 5, 2015.
The Dons led the Pilots at the half 36-33 though the Pilots were in high gear after the opening tip. Kevin Bailey’s free throw put the very first Portland point on the board followed by Bryce Pressley draining two consecutive three point shots. USF called a time out, Coach Walters’ glare at the lack of defense from his USF players was probably sufficient discussion. San Francisco experimented with a new rotation summoning Frankie Ferrari off the bench to take the helm at point to give Devin Watson some quality down time with Coach Walters while freshman Chase Foster found his way off the bench and onto the floor with Corey Hilliard to give Matt Christiansen and Tim Derksen a breather at the 14:13 mark. Tim Derksen returned to the game and poured in three consecutive three point shots, one shot the result of a steal to close out the first half with USF in the lead.
The Dons shot only 1 free throw in the first half and missed that one. They shot 12 free throws in the second half and made 9 of 12, a 75% effort, finishing the game with a 69.2% free throw shooting average. Contrast that with Portland’s free throw efforts in the game where they made 20 of 27 free throw shots for a 74.1% game average.
Voldy Gerun blocked a Corey Hilliard shot at the 6:20 mark and had a second blocked shot in the first half as well. He contributed 6 rebounds and 5 points in the game though his first basket didn’t occur until the 10:10 mark in the second half. Patience and solid defense were his virtues in the game.
Thomas Van der Mars continued reign as the 2nd leading shot blocker in UP history, blocking 2 shots in the game. He also had 1 steal, 13 rebounds and 7 points. The television commentators determined that all of us would one day be working for Mr. Van der Mars with his high academic honors and fluency in 4 languages.
The scoring seesaw continued early in the second half though Portland continued to stay ahead of San Francisco. With 3:35 left in the game, the Pilots led by 12 points. Alec Wintering found his way around Mark Tollefsen and most of the other Dons and finished the game with 20 points, 1 steal and 3 rebounds.
Matt Glover fouled out of the game when Kevin Bailey attempted to leap frog over him on the way to the basket. Bailey finished the evening with 20 points like his teammate Alec and 6 rebounds. Bryce Pressley had 2 steals, 7 rebounds, 9 points and 4 assists. A well rounded day at the office for him.
Tim Derksen was the leading scorer for USF with 17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists. Mark Tollefsen finished with 10 points and 3 rebounds.
Jan 8, 2015; Spokane, WA, USA; San Francisco Dons guard Tim Derksen (32) tries to strip the ball away from Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Kyle Wiltjer (33) during the first half at McCarthey Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Matt Christiansen and Matt Glover had 6 rebounds each. Kruize Pinkins, normally a big scoring and rebounding contributor was held to 8 points in the game, 2 blocked shots and 1 assist.
USF drops to 3-9 in conference play while Portland improves their conference record to 4-7. USF will play Gonzaga in San Francisco Saturday while Portland heads to Santa Clara for their Saturday game.