The men’s basketball team dropped two games at home this weekend. First on Thursday against Montana, when Portland State fell short with a slow second half, 67-49. Then in the second game on Saturday, the Vikings would try to make it a .500 home stand against Montana State.
On Thursday, the Vikings began the home stand by hosting the Montana Grizzlies. In the first half, both teams were able to match each other on the offensive and defensive ends. Portland State hit two three-pointers in the first half, as did the Grizzlies. Both teams shot a similar percentage from the field, with the Vikings at 40.9 percent and the Grizzlies at 42.3 percent. The Vikings claimed the lead by one point going into halftime, 28-27.
The second half was a different scene for both squads. Portland State was only able to connect on six field goals in the second half, while David Bell had 14 for the Grizzlies to lead their 52.2 percent shooting effort. The Grizzlies outscored the Vikings by a total of 40-21. Rebounding was also heavily in favor of Montana, 36-24. Seth Scott led the Vikings with 15 points, while Kevin Briggs and Jeb Ivey each had 12. Jeff Eischen led rebounding with five total in just 11 minutes of action.
On Saturday night against Montana State, it was a slow start in the first half that saw Portland State get down early. In the first half, the Vikings shot just 8-24, 33 percent from the field as the Bobcats shot 13-23, 56.5 percent for the edge. The Bobcats’ defense also caused 10 Viking turnovers to only five for the Bobcats. Leading scorer Ivey shot 0-8, showing no points. At the end of the first half, the score stood at 34-17.
In the second half, the Bobcats extended their 14-point lead to 21 about three minutes in. With about 17 minutes remaining in the second, the Vikings ignited their offense to go on a 20-0 run in the next seven minutes. All of a sudden, the score read 41-40. Unfortunately for the home crowd, that was as close as they could get. From there Bo Segeberg put in a drop step banker to stop the run and spark Montana State’s offense down the stretch. From that three-point margin, the Vikings would be outscored 17-16 over the final 10 minutes of play, extinguishing high hopes of another comeback similar to the home opener back in November against Northridge.
Briggs led all scores with 23 on 8-16 from the floor. John Giannoni and Eischen scored nine and six respectively, with Giannoni recording all of his season high in the second half. Portland State did win on the glass, 31-27, with Brandon Haughton pulling down seven and Eischen five in just 16 minutes of action.
Portland State now stands at 2-7 in Big Sky play, 4-18 overall for the season. The Vikings go on the road next week, traveling to Northern Arizona on Thursday and Sacramento on Saturday.
Montana 67, Portland State 49
Portland State: Kevin Briggs (12), Seth Scott (15), Brandon Haughton (2), Jeb Ivey (12), Jeff Eischen (4), John Glaser (4)
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd TOTAL
Montana 27 40 67
Portland State 28 21 49
Montana State 60, Portland State 56
Portland State: Kevin Briggs (23), Seth Scott (6), Brandon Haughton (2), Jeb Ivey (6), John Giannoni (9), Keith Sconiers (2), Jeff Eischen (6), Steven Hamilton (2)
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd TOTAL
Montana State 34 26 60
Portland State 17 39 56