PORTLAND, Ore. — Long Beach State couldn’t keep pace with a hot-shooting team on the road.
Sophomore Petar Majstorovic scored a career-high 23 points and Long Beach State had four players score in double figures, but Portland shot 70% from the field and 17 for 19 at the free-throw line to hand LBSU a 93-73 nonconference loss on Wednesday night at the Chiles Center.
Timo George and Joel Foxwell each scored 19 points for the Pilots (5-3), who missed just nine two-point shots all night and went 6 for 12 from 3-point range in the best shooting night the program has seen since December of 1982.
Portland never trailed and opened a 15-point lead with just over seven minutes left in the first half, but Long Beach (1-6) started to find itself behind 3-pointers from Shaquil Bender and Cole Farrell. An 8-0 run just before the end of the half got the visitors within five, and Portland led by just seven (42-35) at the break.
LBSU kept the pressure on to start the second half, as a jumper from Gavin Sykes and a three-point play cut the margin to 42-40, but the Pilots never cooled off, scoring on their next five possessions to re-establish a 10-point lead at 52-42.
Back-to-back baskets in the paint by Foxwell eventually pushed the margin to 79-59 and Long Beach got no closer than a 16-point deficit the rest of the way.
Cole Farrell added 13 points for Long Beach in his return to Portland, while Christian Jones scored 12 and Sykes finished with 11.
Foxwell added seven assists and five rebounds for Portland, while George grabbed six rebounds. Matus Hronsky had 16 points and James O’Donnell scored a career high 15 for the Pilots, who racked up 26 assists on their 35 made field goals.
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LBSU return home and host San Diego (USD) on Sunday at 2 p.m.