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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sizzling Vikings top Eastern

From News Services

Dominic Waters had 23 points and eight assists Saturday night to lead Portland State to a 98-75 win over Eastern Washington in Portland in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams.

Melvin Jones added 19 points for the Vikings (3-4, 1-0 Big Sky), Jamie Jones had 17 and Julius Thomas contributed 16.

Glen Dean and Jeffrey Forbes led the Eagles (3-5, 0-1 Big Sky) with 17 points each.

“It was a little bit of a struggle for us at times, but we did score 75 points and shot a respectable percentage,” Eastern coach Kirk Earlywine said. “But the game was decided on the other end of the floor, obviously.

“I had our players so worried about the 3-point line that all of our defensive principles and rules went out the window because we were trying so hard to take that away. Instead we gave up lay-ins and dunks.”

Portland State trailed only once all night and shot 76 percent in the first half. Waters scored seven points during a 10-0 run midway through the first half that gave Portland State a 20-10 lead.

Melvin Jones capped another 10-0 run in the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers that put the game away for the Vikings.

Portland State set a school record with 68.8 percent shooting from the floor on the night.

“When you allow a team to shoot 69 percent you are not going to win,” Earlywine said. “I told the players that I blew this one for them. I will not let that happen again.”

Portland St. 98, E. Washington 75

 E. Washington (3-5)—Brunell 1-1 0-0 2, Moore 6-13 2-2 14, Dean 6-7 2-3 17, Forbes 5-6 6-6 17, Valentine 1-8 0-0 2, Gibbs 1-3 0-0 2, Fischer 0-1 0-0 0, Griffin 1-1 2-4 4, Winford 1-4 0-0 2, Demissie 3-8 2-3 9, Dunn 2-7 2-3 6. Totals 27-59 16-21 75.

Portland St. (3-4)—Guede 0-2 0-0 0, Nelson 3-4 1-1 8, J.Jones 4-5 9-11 17, M.Jones 7-12 0-0 19, Waters 8-11 7-7 23, J.Thomas 7-9 2-5 16, Lazoff 1-1 0-0 2, P.Thomas 0-0 2-2 2, Brandon 1-1 0-0 2, Johnson 2-2 2-2 8, Harriel 0-1 1-2 1, Bansemer 0-0 0-0 0, Christensen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-48 24-30 98. Halftime—Portland St. 44-35. 3-Point Goals—E. Washington 5-15 (Dean 3-4, Forbes 1-1, Demissie 1-3, Winford 0-3, Valentine 0-4), Portland St. 8-14 (M.Jones 5-7, Johnson 2-2, Nelson 1-2, Guede 0-1, Waters 0-2). Fouled Out—Valentine. Rebounds—E. Washington 25 (Moore 7), Portland St. 26 (Guede 6). Assists—E. Washington 14 (Dean, Valentine 4), Portland St. 15 (Waters 8). Total Fouls—E. Washington 22, Portland St. 19. Technical—Waters. A—1,028.

Montana State 62, N. Arizona 50: Bobby Howard had 16 points and 12 rebounds for his first career double-double and Marquis Navarre added 15 points as the Bobcats (4-3, 2-0) overcame a frigid first half of shooting to defeat the Lumberjacks (2-5, 0-2) in Bozeman. Montana State missed 14 of its first 15 shots and trailed 28-23 at halftime, but scored the first 13 points after intermission. Nick Larson had 10 points to lead NAU.

N. Colorado 59, Montana 48: Yahosh Bonner scored 19 points and helped put the clamps on Grizzlies leading scorer Anthony Johnson to lead the Bears (8-1, 1-1) to a victory in Missoula.

Brian Qvale led Montana (5-3, 1-1) with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Johnson, who averages more than 20 points per game, was limited to just seven points on 2-for-10 shooting.

Weber State 80, Sacramento State 65 Damian Lillard had 27 points and four assists in the Wildcats’ (3-4, 1-0) victory over the Hornets (4-5, 0-1) in Ogden, Utah. Franklin Session had 14 points and 18 rebounds and Nick Hansen added 17 points for Weber State. Sultan Toles-Bey had 14 points and Michael Selling added 13 points and six rebounds for Sacramento State.