Grizz Hand Viks a Tough Loss

Phil Nelson

Goviks.com

Portland State came into Thursday’s contest with Big Sky Conference leader Montana having lost six of its last eight games, and sporting a disappointing record of 12-14 on the season. But the Vikings showed that they weren‘t ready to throw in the towel on their season just yet, taking the 19-8 Grizzlies down to the wire at the Stott Center before eventually falling 85-84.

Montana led 47-35 at halftime, but the Viks wouldn’t go down without a fight. PSU began to creep up on Montana throughout the second half, getting as close as 72-69 on a Philip Thomas hook shot in the paint with less than five minutes to play. But when the Grizzlies mounted an 8-1 run to make it 80-70 with just 1:10 to play, it looked like it was time for the Vikings to grab a Gatorade and hit the locker room.

Anyone who left the Stott Center early, though, missed out on a frenetic finish highlighted by a nice lay up from Chehales Tapscott as he was fouled and a simply nasty follow dunk by Chris Harriel. But the capper was an inbounds pass steal that led to a three ball by little-used guard Alonzo Brandon to cut the deficit to 83-81 with just 9.3 seconds to go.

PSU would foul on the ensuing inbounds, and Montana would convert on both free throws to go up by four. Phil Nelson put the finishing touches on the scoreboard by flinging up a seemingly casual long ball from near mid-court that cut the deficit to just one point as the buzzer sounded.

Tapscott led the Vikings with an impressive performance, scoring a career high 28 points and snagging 7 rebounds, while Charles Odum contributed 17 points. Montana was led by Will Cherry with 24 points. Portland State will play their final home game of the season this Saturday against Montana State at 7:05 p.m.