Cheney, WA - Portland State went over 12 minutes without a field in the second half and overtime, but still found a way to pull out a win over Eastern Washington, 66-62, in the Big Sky Conference regular season finale for both teams.
It was a very big win for Portland State as the Vikings grabbed a share of second place in the Big Sky with Montana at 11-5.
The Vikings will now wait to see if they earn the second seed in the Big Sky Tournament and a bye into the semifinals on Mar. 10 in Ogden, UT. PSU awaits the result of the Northern Colorado/Montana State on Sunday. If UNC wins, the Vikings will earn the second seed. If Montana State wins, PSU will be the third seed and host a quarterfinal round game on Saturday, Mar. 7 at the Stott Center against either Montana State or Northern Colorado.
PSU got off to a solid start, hitting .538 from the field in the first half - including 5-10 from three-point range - and gradually stretched a lead to 36-27 at halftime. The Vikings also forced 10 Eagle turnovers and turned them into 11 points.
The Viking lead grew to 42-31 early in the second half, but the Eagles ran off 12 straight points to go ahead 43-42. It was Eastern's first lead since 1-0.
PSU responded a moment later with an 8-0 run that included a three-pointer by Jeremiah Dominguez with 9:25 left to play.
The Vikings led 52-45 but went cold from that point, not making a field goal over the remainder of regulation, going 0-6 with five turnovers. PSU did make 4-4 free throws over that stretch, but allowed the Eagles creep back in.
Eagle center Brandon Moore hit a hook shot with 59.2 seconds remaining tieing the game at 56-56.
PSU turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and never got a shot off in the final minute. The Eagles ran the clock down, but Andy Genao missed a driving shot in the closing seconds. Time expired in the scramble for the rebound, sending the game to overtime.
Dominic Waters gave the Vikings the lead back with 1:46 left in overtime on a jumper from the top of the key. PSU led 61-60 on its first field goal in 12 minutes and 39 seconds of play.
The lead grew to three points on a short hook by Jamie Jones with 27.8 seconds remaining in overtime.
Moore answered with a layup 10 seconds later, pulling the Eagles within a point at 63-62.
Andre Murray split a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left and the Vikings were up 64-62.
EWU's Benny Valentine had a chance to tie the game with 3.5 seconds left, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Julius Thomas got the rebound, was fouled and made both free throws to seal a Viking win.
Jones led the Vikings with a double-double, scoring 15 points with 10 rebounds. Dominguez and Waters added 13 points apiece and combined for nine assists.
The Vikings finished at 23-55 from the field, just .418 from the field, after their hot start. PSU outrebounded Eastern Washington, 38-31.
Moore had 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead Eastern Washington. The Eagles were still playing for a post-season berth, but saw it evaporate in the loss. Eastern finishes the year at 12-17 overall, 6-10 in conference.
GAME NOTES: The win ended a four-game road losing streak... PSU has won four straight overall... Portland State finishes the regular season at 21-9, the exact same record they had during the 2007-08 regular season... the Vikings are 2-1 in overtime games... Jones leads the Big Sky with six double-doubles this season... strange plays: Portland State was assessed a technical foul prior to the game when Kyle Coston dunked in warmups. Milan Stanojevic made one of the two free throws... Jeremiah Dominguez was given a successful three-pointer in the first half when an Eagle player grabbed the net during his shot.
