by Charlie O. Mallonee
Sacramento – The Sacramento State Hornets and the Portland Pilots met on the big stage at the Golden 1 Center as the first game of a NCAA Men’s basketball doubleheader. Someone forgot to tell the teams they were just the warm-up game because they played some serious hard-nosed, entertaining basketball.
If you like 3-point shooting, you would have loved watching this game. Both teams used the 3-ball to their advantage and shot it at a very respectable percentage.
While both teams shot well from outside, they also were not afraid to look for defensive breakdowns and drive the ball to the basket.
Portland run in first half put Sac State in peril
The Pilots went on a run late in the first half that had them up 41-28 with 3:59 to go in the first half. It appeared that Portland was going to head to locker room at halftime with very comfortable lead that they could build on in the second half.
The Hornets had something else in mind as they put together a 12-0 run of their own to cut the Portland lead to just three-points – 43 to 40 – at halftime. The run was fueled by two 3-point baskets from sophmore guard Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’Afa.
Both teams shot over 50-percent in the first half. Portland shot 16-for-31 (51.6-percent). The Hornets shot 54.8-percent (17-for-31) from the field.
The second half brought more of the same kind of action
Both teams came out hot in the second half. Neither team was able to open up a lead of more than five points on the other and it was a 2-3 point contest most of the time. At the 7:24 mark in the half, that all changed.
Josh McSwiggan made a layup that gave the Pilots a six-point lead. That kicked off a burst by Portland that the Hornets would never recover from in the game.
Portland built up of a lead of eight points and then managed to stay ahead of Sacramento for the remainder of the contest. The Hornets did cut the Portland lead to just four points late in the half but that was as close as they would come.
When the final horn sounded, Portland had beaten the Hornets 80-75. The victory lifted the Pilots record to 6-7 for the season. The loss dropped the Hornets to 3-9 to date.
Top performances
Sacramento State Hornets
- Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’Afa is the easy choice for Star of the Game for the Hornets. He scored a game-high 23-points, shooting 8-for-11 overall and hitting 5-of-7 three-point attempts. The sophomore was a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line, grabbed four rebounds, dished out two assists and added one steal. His head coach – Brian Katz – said you could see this kind of game coming from Izayah with the way he has been playing recently.
- Co-star: Senior forward Justin Strings who finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds for the double-double. Strings also added four assists.
- Co-star: Jordan Tolbert came off the bench and shot a perfect 6-for-6 including going 3-for-3 from behind the 3-point line to post 16-points. Tolbert recorded three assists as well.
Portland Pilots
- Star of the Game: Forward Josh McSwiggan was the man for the Pilots on Thursday night. He scored a team-high 18-points and added eight rebounds. The Englishman played 35-minutes and shot 7-for-11 from the floor.
- Co-star: D’Marques Tyson came off the bench to score 17-points in 17-minutes of playing time on the floor. He converted 5-of-8 three-point opportunities.
- Co-star: Senior center Philipp Hartwich had a big impact on the game for the Pilots. He booked 11 points and eight rebounds while shooting 4-for-6 from the field. His scoring in the lane early in the game really helped to propel his team.
Key team stats
Hornets
- Field Goal Shooting for the game: 29-for-57 (50.9-percent)
- 3-point Shooting for game: 8-of-20 (40-percent)
- Free Throw Shooting for Game: 9-for-16 (56.3-percent) this game might have been lost at the charity stripe
- Turnovers: 12 which resulted in 16 Portland points (that is five more turnovers than Portland)
Pilots
- Field Goal Shooting for the game: 29-for-58 (50-percent)
- 3-point Shooting for game: 11-for-26 (42.3-percent) This was key to their win
- Free Throw Shooting for the Game: 11-for-18 (61.1-percent) both teams need improvement at the line
- Turnovers: Seven which became nine Sac State points – taking better care of the ball may have been the difference maker in this game.
Up next
Sacramento State
The Hornets have one more game before Christmas. They will host UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night at 7:05 pm.
Portland
The Pilots are off until December 28th when they will play BYU in Provo.
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