Pilots own Portland

Kevin Bailey at end of game.

PORTLAND - Kevin Bailey scored a team-high 23 points and Thomas van der Mars had 19 points and a career-high 18 rebounds as the Portland Pilots defeated crosstown rival Portland State 92-76 Saturday night at the Stott Center. Portland has now won five of its last six games and dealt the Vikings their first home loss of the season.

Bailey was solid throughout for the Pilots (6-3) finishing 7-for-14 from the field and 7-of-9 at the free throw line. He added three assists, two blocked shots, a steal and zero turnovers in 36 minutes of action. The Clovis, Calif. junior carried the Pilots with 16 first half points as Portland took a 47-40 lead into the break.

Van der Mars took over the second half with a dominant effort at both ends of the court. After battling early foul trouble, the Gouda, Netherlands junior center had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the second stanza and seemed to pick up every key rebound.

His three-point play off of an offensive rebound pushed the Pilot lead to 75-65 with 3:49 remaining. After four PSU free throws, Bailey hit a clutch three-pointer late in the shot clock and then van der Mars added another putback for an 80-70 lead with 2:09 left. His emphatic dunk in the final minute got the vocal Pilot crowd going.

Van der Mars finished 6-for-8 from the field and 7-for-9 at the foul line in 29 total minutes. It marked his third double-double of the season and he has now averaged 16.2 points and 9.5 rebounds over the last six games.

PSU junior point guard Tim Douglas, who spent his first two years on The Bluff with the Pilots, scored a game-high 27 points against his former team including 16 in the first half. But Portland was able to hold Douglas to just 3-of-12 shooting from the field in the second half.

Gary Winston added 13 points off the bench for the Vikings (4-3) and Aaron Moore chipped in 12.

Pilot freshman point guard Alec Wintering finished with 12 points and four assists before fouling out.

Portland shot 48 percent from the field and made 29-of-36 free throws. The Vikings finished at 42 percent overall, but drilled 10-of-18 three-pointers. They made 16-of-26 from the foul line.

Douglas and Bailey matched each other shot-for-shot in the opening period finishing with 16 points each before intermission. The Vikings led by as much as six points midway through the period, but the Pilots finished the half with a 13-1 run capped by a Bobby Sharp 25-footer at the buzzer.