Portland State’s men’s basketball team snapped an eight-game losing streak on Valentine’s Day last week, handily beating the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah University 90-69. Six Vikings players, including all five starters, scored at least 10 points in an upset of one of the Big Sky Conference’s top teams. The Vikings avenged a 13-point road loss to the Thunderbirds just a few weeks ago.
Men’s basketball shares the love
Portland State’s men’s basketball team snapped an eight-game losing streak on Valentine’s Day last week, handily beating the Thunderbirds of Southern Utah University 90-69. Six Vikings players, including all five starters, scored at least 10 points in an upset of one of the Big Sky Conference’s top teams. The Vikings avenged a 13-point road loss to the Thunderbirds just a few weeks ago.
Michael Harthun, who scored a season-high 19 points and added 5 rebounds and 4 assists, led the team to the victory. Renado Parker contributed 16 points and collected a team-high eight rebounds, and forward Michael Harvey came off the bench and had ahuge impact, scoring 13 points in just 16 minutes of action. Harvey provided a jolt of energy and drew contact every chance he could get, earning 10 free-throw attempts and sinking nine of them.
The senior was one of the many Vikings who came together to execute the strategy designed by their coaching staff. “We told our guys that was part of the game plan offensively…they foul a lot,” head coach Tyler Geving said after the game. “They put you on the line, so you have to make your free throws.” PSU finished the game 31-of-35 at the line, including a perfect 24-of-24 in the second half.
Southern Utah entered the game ranked third in the Big Sky. The Thunderbirds have relied all season on the performances of seniors Jackson Stevenett and Damon Heuir, two of the conference’s top scorers; they combined for 40 points in a home win over the Vikings in late January. But on Thursday, the Vikings shut down Southern Utah’s offense, holding their opponents to 33 percent shooting from the field and just 22 percent from 3-point range. Stevenett and Heuir again contributed 40 points to the effort but could not overcome a healthy Parker and the balanced Vikings attack.
PSU played with a sense of urgency, and rightfully so. After losing eight straight games, their defeat of Southern Utah brought them to 4-11 in the Big Sky with five conference games remaining in the regular season. They’ll need to win all five just to have a chance at one of the seven conference playoff tournament spots.
With the Vikings the healthiest they have been all year, it will be exciting to see if they can make a late-season run. They’ll play next on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. in a nonconference game against the University of California, Riverside.
