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Portland Pilots (4-3, 0-0 WCC) vs. Long Beach State The Beach (1-5, 0-0 Big West) THIS WEEK GAME COVERAGE LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas 76, Pilots 66 (Nov. 23, 2025 \u2014 Portland, Ore.) MORE WEEKLY HONORS FOR FOXWELL FOXY OF TO FAST START BALLEW IS BALLIN FRESHMAN PHENOMS BALANCE IS KEY BUILDING A WINNING ROSTER ABOUT THE RETURNERS STAFF UPDATE INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR NATIONAL TEAM DUTY ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE PORTLAND-LONG BEACH STATE SERIES HISTORY WE’RE RIVERBOAT PILOTS, NOT AIRPLANE PILOTS! Get Your Tickets Now! Donate Today Follow Along With the Action
\nDate:\u00a0Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025
\nTime:\u00a07:00 p.m.
\nPlace:\u00a0Portland, Ore.
\nArena:\u00a0Chiles Center
\nTV:\u00a0ESPN+
\nRadio:\u00a0PortlandPilots.com
\nLive Coverage Links:\u00a0Video<\/a>\u00a0I\u00a0Audio<\/a>\u00a0I\u00a0Stats<\/a>
\nTickets:\u00a0PortlandPilots.com\/Tickets<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\u2022 The Pilots (4-3) return to the Chiles Center Wednesday to host Long Beach State in a non-conference game at Chiles Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
\n\u2022 Tickets for all UP home games are available at PortlandPilots.com\/Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 All Portland home games will be aired live on ESPN+.
\n\u2022 Radio for all Portland men’s and women’s basketball home games \u2013 and select road games \u2013 will be streamed on\u00a0PortlandPilots.com<\/a>\u00a0with Jason Swygard calling the action. Pre-game coverage begins 20 minutes prior to tip-off and ends with a 15-minute post-game show.
\n\u2022 Live coverage links for Portland games can be found at\u00a0PortlandPilots.com<\/a>.
\n\u2022 Follow @PortlandMBB on X and Instagram for the latest team content.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Portland could not overcome a slow start as the Tommies held on for a 76-66 win to close out the Portland Invitational presented by Courtyard Portland North Marriott.
\n\u2022 The Tommies raced out to a 18-2 start before Portland came all the way back to take the lead midway through the second half.
\n\u2022 Timo George led four Pilots in double figures with 17 points. Cameron Williams added 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Joel Foxwell helped out with 11 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Foxwell was named to the All-Tournament Team.
\n\u2022 Nolan Minessale finished with a game-high 24 points and five steals to lead the Tommies.
\n\u2022 Portland used a 10-0 run after the slow start to make it 18-12. George made consecutive buckets in the paint to pull Portland within three at 28-25. Kelson Gebbers drilled a clutch three just before halftime to make it a 36-34 deficit for Portland at the break.
\n\u2022 Matus Hronsky buried a three and then George had a putback dunk giving the Pilots their first and only lead of the game at 49-47 with 13:15 remaining. Minessale answered with a three-pointer on the next possession and the Tommies went back up 56-49. Portland cut it to 65-64 deficit with 4:14 to go but the St. Thomas responded and Portland would get no closer than six the rest of the way as a George dunk was all the Pilots could muster in the final minutes.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Portland freshman PG Joel Foxwell has earned WCC Freshman of the Week honors two out of the first three weeks after taking home the award on Monday.
\n\u2022 Foxwell averaged 14.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists while playing 35.3 minutes per game for the Pilots over three games last weekend at the Portland Invitational. He shot 49 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range.
\n\u2022 The Melbourne, Australia native also was honored Nov. 10 after leading the Pilots to a 3-0 start.
\n\u2022 This is the 12th time a Portland player has garnered the award over the last three seasons, which is nearly one out of every three opportunities and four more then the next closest institution.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Foxwell leads all freshmen in the WCC in scoring (15.1) and assists (6.0) and is second in rebounding (5.4). Among freshmen nationally this season, he is No. 1 in total assists (42), No. 10 in total points (106), No. 15 in 3-pointers made (14), No. 20 in steals (11) and No. 27 in rebounds (38).
\n\u2022 He recorded his first career double-double of 12 points and 10 assists to go along with six rebounds in Portland’s 83-74 win against Arkansas Pine Bluff on Nov. 6.
\n\u2022 Foxwell flirted with a pair of triple doubles in three home games last weekend at the Portland Invitational.
\n\u2022 He went for a season high 24 points along with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in a 103-85 win against Cal State Fullerton on Friday. He followed with nine points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and two steals in an overtime loss to Northern Colorado and then capped the weekend with 11 points, seven rebounds and eight assists against St. Thomas on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Sophomore G Mikah Ballew has come off the bench to average 12.3 points through the first seven games.
\n\u2022 He scored a career high 20 points in the opener vs. Willamette, added 15 points against Arkansas Pine Bluff and made clutch plays late in a narrow 67-63 win against UC Davis.
\n\u2022 Ballew has made 26 of 31 free throws \u2013 both team highs \u2013 and his 12 three-pointers made are second best on the roster.
\n\u2022 He was a key contributor last season off the bench for Portland and the most experienced Pilot returner in terms of minutes played and scoring.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Portland’s three true freshmen have all had major impacts out of the gates.
\n\u2022 In addition to Foxwell, F Timo George has come off the bench to average 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds. He is shooting 34-for-46 (.739) from the field and already has 13 dunks which is No. 13 nationally.
\n\u2022 Guard Dante Censori-Hercules has been a defensive stopper off the bench and appeared in six of seven games.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 The Pilots were expected to have a balanced scoring attack this season and the first seven games have shown just that with four players averaging double figures.
\n\u2022 Minutes have also been pretty evenly distributed among the ten primary rotation players with each averaging at least 10.8 minutes per game.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 The Portland coaching staff focused on building the 2025-26 roster with experienced players from winning programs and Portland’s five transfers fit the bill.
\n\u2022 Junior transfers Garrett Nuckolls and Cameron Williams were the top two scorers for Trinity Valley JC, which won the JUCO Division I national title last year.
\n\u2022 Riley Parker was a starter and team captain for St. Francis, which won the Northeast Conference Tournament to reach the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
\n\u2022 Senior F Mat\u00fa\u0161 Hronsk\u00fd spent three years with Duquesne and played in two NCAA Tournament games in 2024, while sophomore C James O’Donnell was a key contributor for San Francisco, who won 25 games and played in the NIT.
\n\u2022 Additionally, Portland’s three true freshmen all played for high level clubs or have national team experience: Timo George prepped at IMG Academy in Florida, Joel Foxwell played with pros in the Australian NBL and NBL1, while Dante Censori-Hercules competed at Hodan Prep, which has multiple alums playing in the NBA.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Portland returns six players from last year’s roster, three of which redshirted.
\n\u2022 Mikah Ballew averaged 4.9 points as a true freshman in 31 games.
\n\u2022 Senior C Jermaine Ballisager Webb started eight games and appeared in 29 total. He averaged 4.3 points and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 64 percent from the field, including 9-of-13 from three-point range.
\n\u2022 RS-sophomore G Kelson Gebbers played 19 games and averaged 1.7 points and 1.1 rebounds.
\n\u2022 Carlin Briggs, NaVaughn Long and Preston Lee each utilized their redshirt season. Briggs is returning from a knee injury and working his way back into playing shape. Long made his debut against Willamette and recorded two rebounds with a pair of assists. Lee also debuted against the Bearcats and scored five points with a steal.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Portland added two new assistant coaches to staff this offseason in Mark Berokoff and Anthony Separovich, while Decclan Mclean was promoted to an assistant coach after serving two years as a graduate assistant.
\n\u2022 Berokoff brings vast experience to the bench with more than 400 career wins along with multiple state and national championships as a head coach. Berokoff most recently served four seasons as head coach at NAIA Oklahoma City University.\u00a0 He led Randall University to three national titles and five national semifinals appearances in nine years (2012-21) at the National Christian College Athletic Association Division II level while serving as both head coach and athletic director.
\n\u2022 Separovich and Mclean are Australians that have helped solidified a strong pipeline for the Pilots Down Under. Separovich served as the AUSA Hoops Program and Recruiting Director from 2022-25. He was instrumental in recruiting, mentoring and guiding boys and girls players from Australia to earn college scholarships in the U.S. More than 500 student-athletes represented AUSA in AAU Tournaments across the U.S. in 2025. He helped place more than 100 student-athletes at U.S. colleges over the past three years, including a record 50 in 2024.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Portland’s current roster features players from seven different countries including nine international student-athletes.
\n\u2022 The Australian pipeline continues to flow with four Pilots hailing from Down Under: Riley Parker, James O’Donnell, Carlin Briggs and Joel Foxwell.
\n\u2022 Throughout his five-year tenure with the Pilots, Legans has had nine different Aussies on the roster and 21 total international players from 12 different countries.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Four different players have been regular representatives on their home country’s national teams either at the youth or senior level.
\n\u2022 Jermaine Ballisager Webb (Denmark) played on youth national teams from U15 on and represented the Senior National Team this Summer at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifiers. He averaged 10.8 points and 4.8 rebounds over four games as Denmark secured a qualifying spot.
\n\u2022 Timo George (Netherlands) helped the Netherlands U20 National Team to a fourth-place finish at the 2024 FIBA EuroBasket where he averaged 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He also represented the Netherlands at the U18 European Championships in 2023.
\n\u2022 Mat\u00fa\u0161 Hronsk\u00fd (Slovakia) represented Slovakia at the 2021 U20 European Championships where he averaged 15.8 points in five games. Hronsk\u00fd also played for Slovakia’s Senior National Team at the 2021 World Cup where he scored eight points in four games.
\n\u2022 Dante Censori-Hercules (Canada) also trained this Summer with the U-19 National Team.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 The Beach (1-5) have a win against non-D-I Nobel with losses coming against San Diego State, Fresno State, Pacific, Illinois State and Montana State.
\n\u2022 Gavin Sykes (12.8) leads three Beach players averaging double figures.
\n\u2022 Head coach Chris Acker is in his second season at the helm.<\/p>\n
\nSeries:\u00a0Portland leads 7-0
\nH \/ A \/ N:\u00a04-0 \/ 3-0 \/ 0-0
\nStreak:\u00a0Portland W7
\nLast:\u00a0Pilots 63, Long Beach State 61 (Nov. 16, 2024 at Long Beach State)<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 Though a 1935 student contest resulted in the nickname “Chinooks” (after the Native American tribe that inhabited the area, and the largest of the salmon species in the Willamette River), the “Pilots” was chosen by presidential fiat. From that day forward, The Bluff had a new mascot, and he was Wally Pilot.
\n\u2022 When the University changed its name from Columbia University (its earliest sports teams were known as the Cliff dwellers or the Columbias), to the University of Portland in 1935, the name and University had already begun to adapt a more “nautical motif,” suitable for a campus site overlooking the Willamette River. At the same time, the Pilot athletic teams became associated with Wally (a stylized riverboat pilot), and the pilot’s wheel became the logical logo.
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\nSecure your spot now for any upcoming Portland Pilots ticketed home event by visiting\u00a0PortlandPilots.com\/Tickets<\/a>\u00a0or by downloading the Portland Pilots App. \u00a0For group and fan experience package information, email\u00a0pilotsboxoffice@up.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nFans interested in making a contribution to the Pilot Athletic Fund can do so by\u00a0clicking here<\/a>. Your gift directly helps our nearly 300 student-athletes as they strive to make a difference in our community and achieve academic and athletic excellence. Thank you for support of Pilot Athletics!<\/p>\n
\nGet the latest news and information about your favorite University of Portland athletic programs by visiting\u00a0PortlandPilots.com<\/a>. You can also follow along for the most dynamic coverage and team-centric content by following us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, liking us on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>, and following us on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.
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