Denver senior guard Brian Stafford poured in 32 points, and the Vikings dropped their regular-season opener Friday night on the road 69-61 in front of 6,420 people at Magness Arena.
The Vikings fell victim to a cold start from the field, hitting just 2-13 to start the game. This was the first-ever meeting between these schools.
“I thought we played well…but had a tough night shooting,” head coach Tyler Geving said. “We had some good looks but they just didn’t go down.”
The Vikings didn’t lead until 5:42 left in the first half, when center Nate Lozeau made his third straight basket to give his team a brief 27-26 lead.
The Pioneers torched the Vikings from beyond the arc in the first half, however, knocking down eight three-pointers en route to a 34-31 half-time lead. Stafford, who has started every game for Denver since the start of the 2008–09 season, hit six of them.
An inside presence from Chehales Tapscott and Lozeau kept the Vikings in the game, as the duo combined for 24 points and 12 rebounds in the first half.
Both teams struggled to score to start the second half until the Pioneers managed an 11-2 run to give them a 49-37 lead with 9:52 left.
“We had a couple of silly turnovers which led to some easy baskets for them,” Geving said.
Denver finished 24-of-50 (48.0 percent) from the field, while holding Portland State to 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the floor.
Lozeau made his presence known in the paint, leading the Vikings with 19 points and seven rebounds. Tapscott finished with his second straight double-double, recording 18 points and 12 rebounds. Senior guard and returning leading scorer Charles Odum added 13 points but struggled from the field, only shooting 4-11 for the game.
“We executed what we wanted to do inside, Lozeau with 19, Tapscott with 18, but we couldn’t make anything happen outside,” Geving said.
Guards Michael Harthun and Lateef McMullan, both newcomers to the starting lineup, had nightmare performances in their official Viking debuts. McMullan finished with two points on 0-8 shooting. Harthun scored just one point on 0-8 shooting from the field, after leading the team with 21 points in the exhibition against Western Oregon last week.
The Vikings will look to bounce back in the home opener tonight against Seattle University, who along with Denver will be joining the Western Athletic Conference at the start of next season.
“We are definitely looking forward to getting back on the court,” Geving said.
The Vikings will be facing a Seattle team that returns three starters from last year’s squad that finished with an 11-20 record as an Independent school, including their top two scorers in guards Aaron Broussard and Sterling Carter.
The Vikings will be searching for their second straight home-opening win. They defeated Pepperdine in last year’s opener in an 83-81 shootout.
Tonight’s game is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. at the Stott Center.