Something to prove

Portland State’s basketball squad had a lot of questions to answer in the wake of former head coach Ken Bone leaving for Washington State, star player Jeremiah Dominguez’s graduation and the departures of Kyle Coston and Tyrell Mara.

Playing an exhibition game against Western Oregon for the second time in two years, the Vikings entered the game with a lineup that bore little resemblance to what the Wolves saw last year. Despite the difference in lineups, the results remained the same, with the Vikings walking off the court in a 108-65 victory.

“I think we have the things we want,” said first-year head coach Tyler Geving. “Now it’s just a matter of cleaning it up.”

Portland State struggled out of the gate on offense, but they turned it around midway through the first half on the outstanding play of junior forward Phil Nelson. After shaking off the rust, they began to settle down defensively as the offense sparked to life and hit four three-pointers in roughly a two-minute stretch that put the game away for good.

Leading by 22 at the half, the Vikings tapped their bench and displayed a lot of depth on both sides of the ball. They didn’t miss a beat offensively throughout the second half, despite heavy rotation of bench players, and they continued to extend their lead until the final seconds of the game.

“We really just wanted to get everyone an opportunity to play,” Geving said. “We wanted to get guys a few more minutes and not get anyone hurt in the exhibition game.”

Next up for the Vikings is the Athletes in Action Basketball Classic in Seattle, Wash., on Nov. 13–15. Portland State will face Belmont and Wright State before squaring off with tournament hosts the Washington Huskies.