Portland freshman Joel Foxwell set two new single-season records and scored a career-high 35 points, but the Pilots fell to Pepperdine 95-87 in a West Coast Conference men’s basketball game at the Chiles Center on Wednesday night.
Despite shooting 62 percent from the field and outscoring Pepperdine 48-24 in the paint, Portland (12-16, 5-10 WCC) could not overcome the Waves’ (8-20, 3-12) three-point shooting. Pepperdine made 16 three-pointers and had a 35-22 advantage in rebounding.
Foxwell led four Pilots scoring in double figures with his 35 points and eight assists. The Melbourne, Australia native broke the program’s single-season record for assists with a total of 193, surpassing Alec Wintering’s mark of 187 set during the 2015-16 season. He also surpassed Austin Rapp’s freshman single-season scoring record of 428 points from last year after needing just 20 points entering the game to pass it.
Jermaine Ballisager Webb was perfect from the field for Portland, going six-for-six including three three-pointers for a total of 16 points. Garrett Nuckolls contributed 11 points and seven assists.
Pepperdine was led by Aaron Clark who made seven of eight shots from beyond the arc and finished with 29 points. Javon Cooley added five three-pointers and scored 21 points.
The Pilots started strong with a nine-point run to open the game and built their lead to as much as sixteen before Pepperdine responded with an eleven-point run. Clark’s outside shooting helped give Pepperdine its first lead late in the first half, which ended with the Waves ahead by two.
In a second half marked by multiple ties and lead changes, Pepperdine pulled away with another ten-point run featuring more three-pointers from Clark. Portland narrowed the deficit to two after a steal and dunk by Foxwell but missed an opportunity to tie on their next possession. A late three-pointer by Styles Phipps extended Pepperdine’s lead for good.
Portland will play its next game against Seattle U Redhawks on Saturday at Redhawk Center at 7 p.m.
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