Men fall to Weber State

All good things must come to an end, or so it goes.
And so it went for the Portland State men’s basketball team on Tuesday, when they fell to Weber State in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament in Ogden, Utah.

The sixth-seeded Vikings lost to the regular season champion Wildcats, 69–60, spoiling their run for a third-straight postseason title, and with it the accompanying automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Portland State ended the season with a 13–19 overall record.

Holding Weber State to an uncharacteristic .333 shooting on the night, Portland State kept tight defensive pressure on their opponents, but paid the price in fouls. The Wildcats took 31 shots from the free throw line and hit the mark 22 times. The Vikings, meanwhile, went just 6 for 17 from the charity stripe.

Portland State hit 24 for 53 from the field for .453 shooting, but was outrebounded 48 to 32. Head coach Tyler Geving felt his team did well defensively, but lost the battle along the boards.

“If you would have told me prior to the game that we would hold them to 33 percent shooting and to 7 of 26 shooting from three-point range, I would have felt good,” Geving said in a statement released by the conference. “They got every offensive rebound, and that was the difference in the game.”

Weber State head coach Randy Rahe mirrored the sentiment.

“Success is because of defense and rebounding and making plays,” Rahe said. “There’s so much more to the game than shooting percentage.”

Weber State sophomore guard Damian Lillard led all scorers with 23 points, and was among three Wildcats to wrack up double-digit points on their home court at Dee Events Center.

Portland State had two players tally double figures. Senior guard Dominic Waters led the Vikings with 19 points, five assists and four rebounds. Senior forward Julius Thomas was close behind with 18 points, and with 11 rebounds was the only player to earn a double-double on the night.

Lillard, the league’s MVP, voiced his respect for Waters after the game.

“The crowd was chanting ‘MVP’ for me, but it could have easily gone to him,” Lillard said. “As a player, and when I see a player like him that I’m up against, I embrace the challenge.”

Thomas, the only PSU player selected to the All-Tournament team, knows that postseason play is different from the regular season.

 “When you play in March, you have to understand you are going to get every team’s best. They are the best rebounding team in the conference,” he said. “All five of their guys were crashing the glass on every rebound, every time.”

After four tries, Portland State has never beaten Weber State in the conference tournament. Tuesday’s win over the Vikings gave the Wildcats their 20th win of the season to make them the third team in the conference to reach that mark this season, but that would not help the Wildcats to a postseason title.

On Wednesday, fourth-seeded Montana defeated Weber State, 66–65, to win the Big Sky Championship Tournament behind a tournament record 42 points from senior guard Anthony Johnson.

Scores by period
                          1st    2nd    Final
Portland State    26    34    60
Weber State      33    36    69

Team stats
               FG     3FG      FT
PSU    24–53    6–18    6–17
           .453      .333    .353

WSU    20–60    7–26    22–31
            .333       .269    .710