Highs and lows

After a weekend full of ups and downs, the Portland State men’s basketball team goes back to the drawing board after dropping their first game at home in over a year.

Riding high after defeating Northern Colorado-one of the hottest teams in the country-on Friday, the Vikings (9′-9, 3′-2 Big Sky) turned around and lost to a Northern Arizona team that reached .500 on Sunday for only the second time this season.

Portland State had something to prove heading into the weekend and wanted to show they are still a team to reckon with after dropping their last two games to Montana and Montana State.

Playing like it was their last game, the Vikings left everything on the court against Northern Colorado and appeared to have finally taken a turn for the best after a healthy 85′-69 thumping of the Bears.

‘If you don’t have your offense going, you have to be able to play defense-and tonight we did that,’ said head coach Tyler Geving. ‘On the boards we did a phenomenal job.’

Despite continuing to turn the ball over, Portland State created a few more shot opportunities by out-rebounding the Bears 18′-11 offensively. Shooting just .419 on the night, the Vikings’ defense was able to hold Northern Colorado below .400 shooting for the game and just .355 in the second half.

Leading from start to finish, Portland State showed their full potential on Friday night. After leading by as much as 16 against the Bears, the Vikings headed into Sunday’s game with high hopes for another big W.

Unfortunately, that was the last time they thought about beating Northern Arizona.

In a reversal of roles from the night before, the Lumberjacks played near-perfect basketball, while shooting an incredible .717 from the field. More of an awesome display of Northern Arizona offense than a full-on dismantling, the Vikings were unable to keep pace in the end, despite seven second-half three-pointers.

Portland State trailed for most of the game, but managed to pull within five points late in the second half-only to watch the Lumberjacks nail their free throws down the stretch to finish the game 93′-86.

Senior guard Dominic Waters went nine of 21 from the field and six for six on the free-throw line and lead all scorers with 26 points on the night.

Failing to play the same level of defense that they had against Northern Colorado, the Vikings also lost the battle underneath the hoop. They were out-rebounded, 30′-19, and outscored in the paint by the Bears.

On a positive note, Portland State managed to keep their turnovers down and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds.

Now standing one game below .500, the Vikings have dug themselves into a hole that will take a considerable amount of effort to climb out of. With 12 games left to play-only 10 against Big Sky opponents-they will need maximum performance, and possibly a little luck, from the entire roster if they hope to make the Big Sky Tournament.

Portland State faces Weber State next on Friday, and has the perfect opportunity to beat the top team in the conference and inch their way closer to the Big Dance.

Northern Colorado’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Field goals’ ‘ ‘ 3-pointers’ ‘ ‘ FT’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Points’ ‘ ‘ Rebounds
G’ ‘ ‘ Dominic Waters’ ‘ ‘ ‘ 5 of 9’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 1 of 3’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 5 of 5’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 16’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 4
C’ ‘ ‘ Jamie Jones’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 3 of 11’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 0 of 0’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 5 of 5’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 11’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 13

Northern Arizona
G’ ‘ ‘ Dominic Waters’ ‘ ‘ ‘ 9 of 21’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 2 of 7’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 6 of 6’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 26’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 3
F’ ‘ ‘ Phil Nelson’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 7 of 15’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 6 of 10’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 0 of 0’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 20’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 0

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