By David Thompson
The University of Portland surprised everyone this basketball season. Both the men and women were projected to finish in the bottom half, and both ended up finishing in the top half. Heading into the conference tournament, both were viable contenders for post-season play.
Both teams ended up making it into the post-season as the women play at Portland State in the first round of the WNIT tonight at the Stott Center. The men were invited to the inaugural Collegeinsider.com Tournament where they fell to the Pacific Tigers of Stockton, Calif. 82-76.
The men fought before falling in their first post-season game in over a decade. The Pilots trailed by 10 with 1:20 left but rallied to 72-76 before fading down the stretch. The Pilots, who opted for a road game for experience purposes, kept it close the entire game. Junior All-WCC performer Nik Ravio led the Pilots with 25 points in 26 minutes, but he could outperform a Pacific team that shot over 60 percent from the field.
Before going to California for the CIT, the Pilots took the no. 3 seed into the WCC Championships. The men opened the conference tournament with a second round win over Pepperdine, a team they had beaten twice prior to the tournament. The Pilots shot 52 percent and held the Wave to 25 percent from the field on way to a dominating 69-45 victory.
"I love the guys, but I really love them when they play defense like that," said Head Coach Eric Reveno. Reveno, the WCC coach of the year, pointed out defense and team play as the keys to the game.
The Pilots failed to match their previous performance the next night when they ran into Saint Mary's. Sophomore guard Patty Mills was playing in his first game since January when he injured his hand against Gonzaga. The Olympian made his much anticipated entrance three minutes into the game. While the NBA prospect has great talent, the rust was evident as he shot 3-12 from the field.
The Pilots did what they could to keep it close but sputtered down the stretch to lose 61-71. Freshman guard Eric Waterford saw an extensive role due to the foul trouble on starting guard T.J. Campbell.
"We had to adjust as the game went on," said Reveno. Reveno stressed the importance of making post-season play after the loss. "Just to see how it all works is big," Reveno said.
The Portland women's basketball team entered the tournament as the no. 2 seed and looked for its first ticket to the dance in more than 10 years. Their stay in the tournament was short as they fell to the San Diego Toreros in the semi-finals 64-74.
The Pilots jumped out to an early 14-point lead but could not keep it as the teams entered the half trailing by one. The second half was all Toreros as the Pilots failed to advance to the conference championship.
Because the Pilots finished second in the WCC, they were given an automatic bid into the WNIT. The Pilots defeated the Vikings earlier this season and lead the series 23-21 including 13 of the last 17. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
