Vikings notch seventh straight

With a 22-4 run over a six-minute stretch in the second half, Portland State (16-8, 9-2 BSC) put the game out of reach to secure an 81-58 victory over Idaho State (9-15, 6-5 BSC) Thursday night at the Stott Center. The win extends Portland State’s winning streak to seven games.

Senior forward Deonte Huff and junior point guard Jeremiah Dominguez were a two-man wrecking crew in the second half, spearheading Portland State’s 22-4 run. Huff scored eight of his game-high 20 points, and Dominguez tossed in 10 of his 18 points during the Vikings’ largest run of the night.

“22-4, that run kind of broke their back,” said head coach Ken Bone. “There were certain periods where we played outstanding on both ends. We made a good team look not very good tonight.”

The Bengals won the opening tip, but from then on it was all Vikings. Portland State shot out of the gates early and built an 11-0 lead before giving up a basket to the road team nearly four minutes into the game.

Following another 10-0 run just a few short minutes later, the Vikings found themselves up 28-9 with 9:08 left in the first half. But the Bengals were able to slow the Vikings down by mixing up their defensive schemes and cut the lead to 36-23 at halftime.

But despite allowing Idaho State to creep back into the game before the end of the first half, Bone kept the Vikings focused at halftime.

“He emphasized how we always get a lead and blow it,” Dominguez said. “We didn’t want that to happen again so we had to come out with more energy and bring it for another 20 minutes.”

A Vikings victory coupled with a Weber State loss on Thursday night gives Portland State a two-game lead over second place in the Big Sky.