PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Gabe Taylor hit a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left and the Portland Pilots defeated South Dakota 85-82 in the Dam City Classic at Portland’s Moda Center on Friday night.
Taylor finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Pilots (6-3), who have won three of their last four games under new head coach Terry Porter, the former Trail Blazers’ great whose jersey hangs from the rafters at the former Rose Garden Arena. Alec Wintering added 24 points.
Tyler Flack led the Coyotes (8-5) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Flack has scored in double figures in 16 straight games dating back to last season.
Portland led by as many as 14 points in the second half but Flack narrowed the gap to 78-77 with 2:25 left.
After Matt Mooney’s 3-pointer tied it at 80 with 1:13 to go, Wintering answered with a jumper for the Pilots. Mooney hit a layup to tie it again before Taylor’s 3-pointer.
“It felt pretty good when it left my hands, yeah,” Taylor said afterward.
Portland took an early 20-14 lead on Wintering’s layup and led by as many as eight points early, but Fleck hit a layup that tied it at 25 for South Dakota. The Coyotes pulled ahead on Mooney’s basket.
The Pilots recaptured the lead and went into the break with a 36-33 advantage. Portland opened the second half with an 11-2 run, capped by Gabe Taylor’s 3-pointer, to push the lead to 47-35.
Earlier this season Wintering passed former Pilot Erik Spoelstra - the current coach of the Miami Heat - on the school’s all-time assist list.
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