GAME NOTES: The Portland Pilots try to remain perfect on the season, as they clash with the Drake Bulldogs on Saturday evening as part of the Challenge in Music City at Municipal Auditorium.

Portland, which will conclude this event with a meeting against Valparaiso on Sunday, still owns an unblemished record after four games. The team kept the good times rolling on Friday with a 64-61 victory versus Murray State in a close call.

Over on the other side, the Bulldogs have been struggling to find success in the early going, winning only one of five decisions thus far, topping IUPUI by a score of 73-60 earlier in the week. Yesterday the team was throttled by Valpo, 66-46, in its lowest-scoring effort on the season.

The Bulldogs won the only previous meeting between the two squads, taking a 66-44 decision during the 1982-83 campaign.

Portland went with a short bench on Friday against Murray State, using a total of only seven players, yet that was just enough to get the team over the hump in a three-point decision. Kevin Bailey led all scorers with 23 points, followed by Bobby Sharp with 13 and Volodymyr Gerun 12 points, while Thomas van der Mars registered a double-double consisting of 10 points and a game- high 13 rebounds. Perhaps even more incredible for the big man is the fact that he didn't suffer a single turnover in the meeting either.

After four games, Bailey leads the Pilots in scoring with 19.8 ppg, thanks to his 54.9 percent shooting from the floor. Gerun checks in with not only 13.8 ppg, but also 7.3 rpg which moves him close to the rim where he can connect on 66.7 percent of his field goal tries. Alec Wintering, another player who shoots the ball well from the field at a 51.7 percent clip, accounts for 11.3 ppg for a team producing 74.8 ppg, compared to only 60.3 ppg for the opposition.

Drake fell behind the Crusaders right out of the gate on Friday and never recovered, making a total of just seven field goals in the first half and the same number after the break, shooting a mere 35.0 percent from the floor overall. Not a single starter scored in double figures for the Bulldogs as the five combined to shoot only 5-of-21 from the field. Jordan Daniels managed to come up with 18 points in 29 minutes off the bench, but it wasn't nearly enough to stave off another loss.

Daniels, a starter in three of the first five games of the season, is leading the way on offense with 11.8 ppg, although Reed Timmer is right on his heels with 11.4 ppg. Chris Caird is responsible for another 10.6 ppg, thanks in large part to his 47.8 percent shooting behind the 3-point line, but still this is a program producing only 62.8 ppg, while giving up a hefty 74.8 ppg.

With power in the paint from a couple of very talented performers, Portland should have more muscle than it needs in order to take care of business versus the Bulldogs.