PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland's Luke Sikma scored 26 points to lead the host Pilots to a 69-60 victory against Saint Louis Tuesday night at the Chiles Center. Freshman guard Mike McCall scored 14 points to lead three Billiken freshmen in double figures.
The Billikens (3-3) turned it on in the second half, shooting 50 percent from the floor to pull within five late in the game. The Achilles heel all night for SLU was free-throw shooting, as the Billikens connected on just 35 percent of their chances from the charity stripe.
Freshmen Jordair Jett and Dwayne Evans joined McCall in double figures. Jett scored 13 points, with nine of them coming in a strong second half. Evans finished with 11 points and tied Jett for team-high honors with six boards.
Sikma's game-high 26 points came on 11-of-17 shooting from the floor. Jasonn Hannibal, Kramer Knutson and Nemanja Mitrovic all scored in double figures for the Pilots, who improve to 6-2 with the victory.
Portland went on top by 16 at one point in the first half, but McCall ignited a late scoring flurry to bring the Billikens back into the game. He drained consecutive 3-pointers late in the half, and converted a traditional 3-point play with 19 seconds left in the opening session as the Billikens trailed by eight at the break, 36-28.
The Billiken freshmen went to work in the second half to keep the game close. McCall converted a traditional 3-point play, and Evans scored the Billikens' next three points as SLU trailed 45-36 with 14:57 left.
Cory Remekun's layup cut the SLU deficit to seven before a Portland spurt put the Pilots up 49-38 with 13:46 left. Jett would score the Billikens' next six points to keep their deficit in single digits.
Portland went up by 14 with 2:40 left before a late rally brought the Billikens back into the game. Jett nailed a 3-pointer, and Evans connected on a layup with under a minute to go as the Bills trailed 65-57.
Kyle Cassity drained a big 3-pointer with 42 seconds left to pull the Billikens within five at 65-60, but that is as close to the lead as they would get before falling 69-60.
The Billikens return to action next Saturday, Dec. 11, when they travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face No. 1 Duke. The nationally televised game on CBS tips at 11 a.m. (St. Louis time).
