An inspired effort from the men’s basketball team was not enough to hold down Weber State and the nation’s leading scorer.
Damian Lillard scored 38 points to lead the Wildcats to an 88-81 victory over Portland State (7-9, 1-3) on Saturday night at the Stott Center. Lillard is currently averaging 26.3 points per game. The loss dampened a huge night from Vikings forward Chehales Tapscott, who led Portland State with 26 points and eight rebounds.
“He did just about everything, and we kept going to him,” said head coach Tyler Geving of Tapscott’s performance. “He is just a workhorse.” Weber State battled back from a 15-point first half deficit and tied the score at 71 after Lillard hit his eighth three-pointer of the night with 8:27 left to play. The Wildcats went up 78-75 on a running shot by Jordan Richardson with 4:35 remaining, then closed out the Vikings by holding them to just one field goal in the final four minutes.
“It was total toughness by our team tonight,” said Weber State head coach Randy Rahe. “We hung in and kept fighting and never gave up.”
The Vikings got off to a hot start with a 12-0 run that had them ahead 21-8 at the 13:32 mark of the first half. Later in the half, Vikings guard Michael Harthun hit back-to-back three-pointers to put a 15-point cushion between them and the Wildcats at 47-32. But Lillard scored eight points in the last two minutes of the half—including the buzzer beater—to close it to just a seven-point margin.
“That was a big shot at the end of the half,” Geving said. “It gave them a little momentum going into the locker room.”
Scott Bamforth led Weber State’s second-half surge, scoring 12 of the Wildcats’ first 20 over nine minutes. The Wildcats managed to tie the game at 71 on a three-pointer from Lillard with 8:25 to play. That came in the middle of a 17-5 Wildcat run.
It was close the rest of the way, but the Vikings never regained the lead.
Weber State finished at .537 from the field, while the Vikings shot .509 overall. The Wildcats had just six turnovers in the game, hit 10 three-pointers—eight by Lillard—and were 20-25 at the line.
Portland State is off until next Thursday when the Vikings take on Northern Colorado. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.