By David Thompson
The last time the University of Portland men's basketball team defeated a nationally ranked opponent Ronald Reagan was in the White House, MTV was showing its first music video, and Pac Man was America's video game of choice.
Twenty-eight years passed between the programs's victory over No. 19 Oregon State in 1981 and Saturday's triumph over the No. 18 Gaels of Saint Mary's College, 84-66.
"Winning these games shows that we can play too," said sophomore sharp-shooter Jared Stohl who went 6-7 from beyond the arc to record 18 points.
Stohl has made 67 3-pointers this year which is the best in the conference and 20th most in the nation. The Pilots are only the third team to beat Saint Mary's, who was riding the nation's longest winning streak before losing at Gonzaga on Jan. 29.
The Pilots were led by junior Nik Raivio who totaled 27 points on 11-19 shooting. Raivio grabbed five rebounds and four assists.
Raivio, along with Stohl and Junior T.J. Campbell combined for 11 3-point shots. "Nik and T.J. pose as good scoring threats so the defense needs to help out on them and it leaves me open," Stohl said.
The win over Saint Mary's puts the Pilots in sole possession of second place in the conference, with a matchup for first place against the No. 17 Gonzaga Bulldogs at 8:00 p.m. tonight at the Chiles Center.
The Pilots started slow and fell behind 24-14 after a 3-point basket by senior Lucas Walker. Portland then responded, outscoring the Gaels 70-42 the rest of the game. The Gaels failed to find a leader in the absence of Olympian Patty Mills, who was injured during Saint Mary's game at Gonzaga.
"I was a little nervous for a while," said Head Coach Eric ReveNo. "I thought we would have to go into halftime and regroup, but the team responded. They played firm defense and got out and ran, which allowed them to get open shots. It shows real maturity on their part."
The second half was dominated by Portland, who led by as many as 22. Every time the Gaels made a run, the Pilots responded.
Junior Wayne Hunter tried to shift momentum midway through the half when he went up for a dunk, but sophomore Luke Sikma met him and pinned the ball against the backboard. The block brought the 3300 spectators to their feet.
"The team has always believed that they are close to a top level team in the WCC," Reveno said. "This win reassures the fans of that."
In only his third season, Reveno has led Portland to its best conference start ever and has already won more this year than the previous two years.
The Pilots are averaging 7.9 buckets from long downtown a game, and are sixth in the nation in 3-point percentage, making 40.6 percent of their shots from 3-point land.
"The offense is balanced," Reveno said. "We have good natural shooters on this team and they find their shots."
While shooting lights out may have led the offensive effort, the Pilots were only out-rebounded by one, a stat the Reveno was very proud of.
Saint Mary's is the seventh best rebounding team in the nation and have out rebounded other WCC opponents by an average of ten rebounds a game.
Saturday's game overshadowed the impressive 69-55 win over the San Diego Toreros Thursday, a win that tied UP for second in the WCC. The Pilots dominated the whole game leading all but one minute of the contest.
The Toreros were without all-WCC player Bandon Johnson, who injured his knee last fall and will be out the rest of the season.
Raivio again led the Pilots with 17 points and nine boards. Stohl and Sikma both added 14 points in the win over the Toreros.
The Pilots took a ten point advantage into the locker room and held the lead throughout the second period, a feat that the Pilots failed to do last season against the Toreros.
The San Diego game on Jan. 29 was supposed to be the biggest game for the Pilots who were picked in the preseason to finish sixth in the WCC. The two were suppose to battle for third, but the Portland win and Saint Mary's loss set up the battle for second, which was tagged as the "biggest game at the Chiles Center in ten years."
Saturday's victory over the Gaels has now set the stage for the most meaningful game for the Pilots at the Chiles Center in recent memory.
"We just have to enjoy this opportunity and remember what got us here." Reveno said.
Tip-off for the sold-out game tonight is at 8:00 p.m. in the Chiles Center. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Student tickets are required for admittance into the game.
