Stumbling back at home

After an improbable quadruple overtime victory against Northern Arizona on Sunday, a hungry Weber State team spoiled the Vikings homecoming in front of 1,216 fans at the Stott Center Thursday night.
   
The loss was the Vikings first defeat in Big Sky play this year and put a dramatic halt to a 17-game conference winning streak that dated back to last season.

The victory improved Weber State’s record to 2-0 in conference play.

“This was a tough game to lose,” said head coach Ken Bone. “Weber State was the better team tonight and they did a good job of holding us to 66 points in our own gym.”

The Viking offense never found a consistent rhythm. Jeremiah Dominguez struggled from the field shooting 4 of 14 and Phil Nelson converted three shots on seven attempts.

The Viking offense struggled from beyond the three-point arc, where they have earned most of their wins this season. Portland State shot 34 percent from behind the arc on hitting 12 on 35 attempts.

Defensively, the Vikings looked soft and reacted slowly to open shooters. Weber State’s Kyle Bullinger was five for five from three-point range and scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half.

“We’re very disappointed with the loss,” said junior guard Dominic Waters. “No disrespect to Weber State or the rest of the Big Sky, but we feel like we are the best team.”

Portland State trailed by just one point at intermission, and looked poised to put together yet another second-half rally. But two different scoring droughts totaling seven minutes without a Viking bucket, increased Weber State’s lead, and the momentum shifted to the Wildcats.

Weber State sealed the deal with consecutive layups by Trevor Morris to widen their lead to 71-61, with three minutes to play.

“We didn’t do a good job of communicating on defense,” Waters said. “We have to be able to play defensively as a unit. We have to communicate.”