Vikings ground Eagles
PORTLAND – Phil Nelson scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to lead Portland State to an 83-61 Big Sky Conference win over Eastern Washington on Saturday night.
Andre Murray added 15 points for the Vikings (15-5, 6-1), while Tyrell Mara had 12 points and Julius Thomas scored 10.
Andy Genao notched a double-double – 20 points, 10 rebounds – to lead Eastern Washington (9-11, 3-5). Benny Valentine added 13 points.
PSU trailed 33-32 at halftime but took control of the game with a 16-3 run in the first four minutes of the second half.
“The disappointing thing about the game is that we were right in it in the first half,” said Eastern head coach Kirk Earlywine. “Other than our 10 turnovers in the first half, we played really hard and we moved the ball. We got the shots we wanted and shot a high percentage. We were playing pretty good and we were playing the kind of basketball I was expecting.
“In the second half we kind of deviated from that,” he continued. “That’s a sign of a team’s toughness – especially when things go bad. Can you stay the course and do what you’re coached to do? We didn’t do that tonight.”
The loss was the fourth-straight for Eastern, which hasn’t won since beating Idaho State at home on Jan. 8. The Eagles open the second half of the league season on Thursday at Montana State, a team they defeated 61-55 on Dec. 6 to open league play.
The Vikings led 48-36 after Nelson connected on a short jumper with 16:47 left to play. They put the game out of reach with a 15-0 run for a 70-47 lead with 8:18 left in the game.
The Vikings shot 56 percent from the field and forced 19 turnovers. EWU shot 49 percent from the floor and missed its only two free-throw attempts of the game.
Portland State 83, EWU 61
E. Washington (9-11, 3-5) – Genao 10-12 0-0 20, Dunn 5-7 0-0 10, Moore 6-11 0-2 12, Valentine 5-16 0-0 13, Stanojevic 2-3 0-0 6, DeLeon 0-3 0-0 0, Christensen 0-0 0-0 0, Gibson 0-5 0-0 0, Brunell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 0-2 61.
Portland St. (15-5, 6-1) – Coston 1-4 0-0 3, Nelson 9-14 0-0 22, Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Murray 6-10 3-5 15, Dominguez 3-6 0-2 9, Thomas 5-6 0-0 10, Polis 0-1 2-2 2, Waters 2-6 2-2 7, Mara 3-5 4-4 12, Wright 0-1 1-2 1, Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-54 12-17 83.
Halftime – E. Washington 33-32. 3-Point Goals – E. Washington 5-15 (Valentine 3-8, Stanojevic 2-3, Gibson 0-2, DeLeon 0-2), Portland St. 11-30 (Nelson 4-8, Dominguez 3-5, Mara 2-4, Coston 1-4, Waters 1-5, Polis 0-1, Murray 0-3). Fouled Out – None. Rebounds – E. Washington 29 (Genao 10), Portland St. 25 (Mara 5). Assists – E. Washington 14 (Genao 4), Portland St. 20 (Mara, Waters 4). Total Fouls – E. Washington 14, Portland St. 10. Technical – EWU Bench. A – 1,500.