The job of the team captain is to make their teammates better and to always be ready to lead the team to victory. After being named Big Sky player of the Week, Jeremiah Dominguez proved why he is Portland State’s captain. Dominguez scored 23 points, including 19 in the second half, to lead the team in defeating the University of Portland 81-76 in front of 1,500 at the Stott Center Tuesday night.
Vikings get best of cross-town rivalry
The job of the team captain is to make their teammates better and to always be ready to lead the team to victory. After being named Big Sky player of the Week, Jeremiah Dominguez proved why he is Portland State’s captain.
Dominguez scored 23 points, including 19 in the second half, to lead the team in defeating the University of Portland 81-76 in front of 1,500 at the Stott Center Tuesday night.
The victory was extra special for Dominguez, who previously played for the Pilots before transferring to Portland State last season.
“We couldn’t lose to them. We had to protect the home court,” Dominguez said.
If there has been a running theme to this year’s Vikings squad it would be second-half adjustments.
In both of the Vikings’ victories, the team trailed at halftime. Last night the Vikings trailed 38-35 at the half, being outrebounded by the Pilots 21-5, and allowing sophomore Jared Stohl to hit 3 of 3 from three-point range.
In the second half Dominguez led the charge for Portland State.
Dominguez hit consecutive three-pointers to cut the Pilots lead to one point at 46-45 with just over 12 minutes remaining. And he even was a force on the defensive end, stealing the ball four times in the second half, with each leading to easy Vikings points.
The Vikings took the lead permanently from the Pilots after sophomore Paul Guede hit a pair of free throws to make the score 70-67 with about six minutes left.
The Pilots last hurrah came when junior Nik Raivo hit a three to cut the Vikings lead to two at 74-72. However, Dominguez responded by hitting a three of his own, and then followed that with a difficult up-and-under layup on the next possession to give PSU a 79-72 lead with two minutes to play.
“You can tell when he has it going,” said head coach Ken Bone of Dominguez. “You just tell him to keep it going.”
The Vikings finished the game strong defensively, allowing the Pilots only four points in the final three minutes.
“Coach told us at half time that we needed to rebound and play better defense and I think we responded well,” Dominguez said.
Junior forward Jamie Jones has continued to be a reliable low post scorer for the Vikings, as he finished with 14 points. Andre Murray was a spark plug for the Portland State offense, as he contributed 10 points and led the team with four assists.
Next up for the 2-0 Vikings is Cal State Fullerton at the Stott Center on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 2:30 p.m.
