The Portland State Vikings’ men’s basketball team carried out an overwhelming dismantling of Portland Bible College—a member of the National Christian Collegiate Athletics Association—during a home match on Dec. 1 that ended 123-40.
From the get-go, the Vikings proved too much for the Portland Bible Wildcats to handle, jumping out to a 65-18 lead by the end of the first half of regulation play. The Vikings outperformed the Wildcats across every statistical category, leading the game in field goal percentage, rebounds, assists and steals, and even managed to force an unsettling 43 turnovers.
The game was an easily anticipated win for the Vikings, and they took advantage by giving their starting point guard, Holland “Boo Boo” Woods, the night off following a hard fall suffered during their 12-point loss to Stanford three days earlier.
Another benefit of the near-guaranteed win was the opportunity to give several backup players a lion’s share of minutes, particularly following the devastating lead established in the first half.
Several players managed to fill their stat sheets during the blowout victory, including junior forward Robert McCoy with 26 points, eight rebounds, one block and five steals; junior guard Michael Nuga with 16 points, seven rebounds, five steals; and senior guard Derek Brown with 12 points, five rebounds, eight assists and four steals.
With an easily obtained win out of the way and their season record at four wins and three losses, the Vikings will now embark upon a challenging series of out-of-conference games during the month of December against teams such as University of Portland, Brigham Young University and California State University Bakersfield.
Their next match will take place at 7:05 p.m. on Dec. 5 at Viking Pavilion against University of Portland. Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite green Portland State University gear for the annual “Green Out” night.
I am a Senior in the Applied Linguistics Bachelor of Arts program at PSU. I currently work as a linguistic grader with WeLocalize, an international localization firm. I am excited to start Vanguard’s brand new sports section, and I hope to cultivate it in a manner that best serves and represents PSU’s various student athletes. When I am not at work or at school, I spend my time obsessing over the Portland Trail Blazers—and the NBA in general—with my wife, Maggie.
