Vikings’ last-minute rally stuns Seattle

An enthusiastic Stott Center crowd was treated to a thrilling home opener for the Portland State men’s basketball team on Tuesday night. Senior power forward Chehales Tapscott hit a floating jumper with four seconds remaining to complete a furious rally as the Vikings pulled off a 66-65 win over the Seattle Redhawks.

The shot capped an 8-0 run by the Vikings to finish the game, after having trailed 65-58 with 1:39 remaining. Tapscott led the rally, scoring six of the final eight.

“We started buckling down and playing solid defense,” Tapscott said. “We just kept fighting; we wanted it more.”

Until the final shot, the Vikings trailed for more than thirty minutes after holding a brief 12-11 lead in the early moments. The Vikings overcame a poor first half on both sides of the ball, committing an astonishing 14 turnovers, while allowing the Redhawks to grab 15 offensive rebounds. The Vikings had 25 total turnovers for the game.

“Coach wanted us to attack the basket more,” Tapscott said. “He told me to keep being aggressive and everyone else to keep attacking.”

Tapscott talked about the difficulties in the paint to start the game.

“They’re pretty long and athletic,” Tapscott said. “We weren’t doing a very good job of boxing out.”

Viking head coach Tyler Geving liked the improvement he saw in the in the last two quarters.

“We did really well in the second half holding them to one offensive rebound,” Geving said. “I was really impressed by that.”

Portland State fell behind by 14 points early in the second half and didn’t get any closer than four until the final minute. However, Tapscott ignited the rally by making a conventional three-point play inside at the 1:30 mark. After the Vikings forced a miss, drew a foul and converted two free throws, cutting the deficit to 65-63 with 1:16 left.

Geving then made the interesting decision to intentionally foul Seattle forward Eric Wallace with 1:04 left in the game. He knew what he was doing.

“He was like a 35 percent free-throw shooter,” Geving said. “We were watching on video and he shot two that weren’t even close.”

Geving’s call paid off as Wallace missed the one-and-one shot. Tapscott rebounded and on the other end drew another foul. After making one of two at the line, PSU was within 65-64.

The Redhawks took possession with 45 seconds to play, running as much clock as they could. However, Odum knifed in to make a steal with 20 seconds left to set the stage for Tapscott’s game-winning bucket.

Tapscott’s finished the game with a double-double, posting 12 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks on the night. Senior center Nate Lozeau scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.

Senior guard Charles Odum, the Vikings returning leading scorer, led the team with 17 points, including shooting 9-10 from the free-throw line. The Vikings attacking mentality paid off, as they shot 27 free-throw attempts compared to just 13 for Seattle.

Aaron Broussard led Seattle with 17 points in 35 minutes.

Overall, the game was a ragged performance by both teams, as neither could find a consistent rhythm from the perimeter. Portland State shot 21-48 (43.8 percent) from the field and only 5-8 (27.8 percent) from the 3-point line. Seattle was 27-21 (38.0 percent) from the field and 4-19 (21.2 percent) from distance.

Despite his team’s resiliency and fight shown in the win, Geving knows his team still has work to do.

“I never thought I’d say this, but we’ve got to get a little better on the offensive end,” Geving said. “Protecting the ball, moving the ball, because 25 turnovers is inexcusable.”

The Vikings will play Linfield next Monday at the Stott Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.