Midseason check in

Entering the second half of the season, the Portland State men’s basketball team (7-7, 1-0 Big Sky) begins the most crucial part of its season with a stretch of conference play that began last Saturday against Sacramento State. After the end of the long winter break and the start of a new year, it’s only fitting to give a midseason report on the early frontrunners for individual honors on the team.

MVP
Dominic Waters
Senior, guard
Leading the team in nearly every statistical category, Waters has been on fire from the beginning and shows no signs of letting up. Hitting an incredible .532 of his three-point attempts and making an even more unbelievable .914 of his free throws, you can count on him keeping his spot as the MVP of this team.

Big Man on Campus
Jamie Jones
Senior, forward
Making his presence known under the hoop, Jones has blocked 29 shots so far this year with an average of just over two blocks a game.  Keeping pace on the offensive end as well, Jones has started the season shooting a team-leading .620 while averaging nearly three offensive rebounds a game.

Sixth Man
Melvin Jones
Junior, guard
Despite not starting most of the season, Jones is second in minutes played and points per game. Averaging 13.3 points per game and providing the majority of the team’s bench points, he has also dished out nearly 30 assists as well this season.

Newcomer of the Year
Paul Guede
Junior, guard/forward
Though Guede arrived in the South Park Blocks a year ago, he only played a total of 25 minutes before falling victim to injury and eventually needing surgery to repair a broken foot. Inserted into the lineup after the Washington game in mid-November, the Vikings have gone on a tear, including a win against then-ranked University of Portland, due largely to the lock-down defense of Guede.

With a big win against Sacramento State last weekend and a two game road trip through Montana coming up, the Vikings finally seem to have all the pieces in place to make another run at the Big Sky Regular Season Championship and have a chance at a third consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament.

By the numbers:

5
Number of Vikings scoring in double figures against Linfield on Dec. 9.

6
Number of conference statistical categories led by the Vikings, including scoring, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, blocked shots and three-pointers made.

7
Straight conference wins, extending to last season and including the 2009 Big Sky Tournament.

12
Consecutive wins at the Stott Center.

26
Points that both senior forward Jamie Jones and senior guard Dominic Waters each scored in the win against Sacramento State on Saturday.

30–2
Home record since the start of the 2007¬–08 season.

93.2
Average points per game for the Viks at home

2
Number of double-doubles recorded by Jones this season.