Author: Colton Woods

An enthusiastic Stott Center crowd was treated to a thrilling home opener for the Portland State men’s basketball team on Tuesday night. Senior power forward Chehales Tapscott hit a floating jumper with four seconds remaining to complete a furious rally as the Vikings pulled off a 66-65 win over the Seattle Redhawks.

The shot capped an 8-0 run by the Vikings to finish the game, after having trailed 65-58 with 1:39 remaining. Tapscott led the rally, scoring six of the final eight.

Denver senior guard Brian Stafford poured in 32 points, and the Vikings dropped their regular-season opener Friday night on the road 69-61 in front of 6,420 people at Magness Arena.

The Vikings fell victim to a cold start from the field, hitting just 2-13 to start the game. This was the first-ever meeting between these schools.

“I thought we played well…but had a tough night shooting,” head coach Tyler Geving said. “We had some good looks but they just didn’t go down.”

Chehales Tapscott is the one who’s always smiling on the court. He takes a simple approach to the game he loves: Just have fun.

“People take basketball a little too seriously sometimes,” the senior said. “You’ve got to remember that basketball is just a game, you gotta have fun. If you’re not having fun, you gotta stop playing.”

When he’s not posting up defenders and grabbing rebounds, Tapscott is just another college kid who enjoys playing video games and watching football.

Michael Harthun scored 21 points to pace the Portland State men’s basketball team in a 91-82 win over the Division II Western Oregon Wolves at the Stott Center Friday night.

Harthun, a former Oregon high-school star from South Medford, hit 6-10 field goals, including 4-7 from three-point range. The junior guard transferred from Washington State and redshirted last season, per NCAA transfer rules.

The Vikings expect to improve on a 14-16 record last year, including a 5-11 mark in conference play. Injuries to juniors Chehales Tapscott and Nate Lozeau had a major impact on the Big Sky season after a strong non-conference start. After enduring a postseason suspension last year, both the coach and media polls have the Vikings finishing fifth in the Big Sky this season, which would secure them a spot in the conference tournament.

Sophomore Zach Carpenter and junior Brittany Castillo led the way for the Vikings Saturday morning at the 2011 Big Sky cross country championship in Pocatello, Idaho.

Carpenter finished 26th overall with a time of 26:44:44 in the 8,000-meter race, while Castillo crossed the line 49th overall, clocking in at 27:57:69 in the 5,000-meter.

The 2011 Big Sky Conference Cross Country Championships will take place this Saturday in Pocatello, Idaho, on the campus of Idaho State University.

Portland State runners will look to improve on last year’s showing in the meet when the men and women finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

Until the final two games of last season, Vikings senior and defensive captain DeShawn Shead had never played a down at safety. Despite being an all-conference defensive back and wide receiver for Highland High School in Palmdale, Calif., Shead was never seen roving the deep secondary, even as a prep star.

So naturally, the transition to a new position at the college level would have its hitches, right? Shead thinks otherwise.

Freshman infielder Brittany Hendrickson launched a solo home run in the fourth, and the Vikings added six runs over the final two innings to defeat Walla Walla Community College 13-7 in a nine-inning game at Erv Lind Field Saturday afternoon. The Vikings fall record now sits at 2-4 with one game remaining.

The start of the 2011-2012 NBA season is officially on life support.

After meetings between players and owners Tuesday, Commissioner David Stern officially cancelled the remaining preseason schedule and also said the league will be forced to cancel the first two weeks of the regular season if a deal cannot be reached by Monday.

The scheduled start of the NBA’s regular season is sitting in the crosshairs, and the lockout has started doing real damage to its calendar. The league announced Friday that all games from Oct. 9–15 are off and further decisions will be made as needed.