As this tournament ends, I believe the Vikings can hold their heads high. They came into it after a loss against a vastly superior UCLA team, and their was little way to gauge their chances this season. I felt that some games against some teams more at their level could do that. PSU really showed some good teamwork, and was able to pull out two difficult games against teams that were probably favored. They ended up losing by one point to a team that was probably the favorite going in, so they can’t feel too bad.

As I didn’t listen to this game live, I’m not sure I can give a proper perspective to it, but I’ll try. The Viks appeared to again be the more talented overall team, and through the first half held a seven point lead. However, the lead, which had been as high as seven, proved not to be enough as the Vikings lost the game in the last minute.

As far as stats go, this was a great game. Neither team shot the lights out, but both hit a good percentage. The teams were basically even in almost every statistical category except free throws, and this one really could have gone either way. Ken Bone knows that he’s really going to need to make the guys work at the free throw line, as that cost them tonight, and could have cost them against Akron as well. 64% isn’t going to win the tough games. Against Linfield maybe, but after that, they’ll have to get their act together.

All of the Viks’ players have now had solid offensive games, so they should head into the rest of the season with confidence in that regard. So, although it’s tough to stomach a loss in a game the team really should have won, they know they can compete against some good teams, and make a run at the Big Sky crown. We can all take solace in Ian Ruder’s points today, especially the one about Weber State.

Good photos of the game available at: http://csurams.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/111907aab.html#
Click on photo gallery.

First Half
PSU again started quickly. They hit 3s all around, with Lucas hitting 3 of them himself. Scott Morrison had 6 points, and a couple blocks, and Dominguez and Lucas played very well on the offensive side of the ball. However, almost all the starters got into foul trouble, so the Viks didn’t have a chance to extend the leads that they had. Akron committed lots of fouls themselves, so the second half should be dictated by the availability of those players in some way. Close to the end of the half, the Viks went on an 8-0 run, but were unable to maintain the lead going into the half. The Viks were 8-12 from 3 in the first half, and shot 57% overall.

Halftime Score: 36-36

Second Half
Jeremiah Dominguez started the second half with eight straight points for the Vikings. After the first media timeout, the game became stagnant. During the next four minutes, each team could only muster one bucket, leaving Akron up by 1. The teams went back and forth continuously for most of the half after that. The Vikings reserves continued to be fairly ineffective, and their inability to score and control the ball again impaired their ability to pull away, even though their starters were clearly playing better. Ahead of the next break Lucas threw an alley-oop, which Huff tipped in to put PSU ahead. By this point, PSU had cooled off considerably from the outside, and was having trouble rebounding the ball. Dominguez kept PSU in the game, scoring his 18th point with 3 minutes left in the contest. Lucas started hitting some inside shots in the last few minutes, Akron answered, but Huff stole the ball their next time down and took it back for an emphatic dunk. Dominguez was unable to convert the front end of a 1-and-1 down the stretch, leaving the door open for the Kangaroos, however, they were unable to hit a decent three point look their next time down. Julius Thomas duplicated Dominguez’ effort, but the Zips couldn’t get off a desperation shot.

Final Score: PSU Wins 66-63

Well, I got the three point spread right…

First Half
The first half began in a great manner for the Viks. IUPUI turned it over a bunch of times, and PSU got off to a 10-0 lead. It was all downhill from there. The Viks started turning it over, and couldn’t get many rebounds. The shooting was satisfactory, but the Viks weren’t able to play good defense. When it couldn’t get any worse, Austin Montgomery hit a buzzer beater to put the Jaguars up 34 to 25 at the half.
Halftime–34-25 Jaguars

Second Half
The Vikings hit two 3s to start the second half to cut into the lead. The rest of the half was back and forth with the teams both playing good offense and the power forwards dominating. Jon Avery and Tyrell Mara hit almost every shot they took. The rest of the players weren’t too shabby either with the regular contributors eventually hitting a few. Patterson was hitting every three he took, but the starters for the Vikings just kept answering the call. In the last two minutes, JD was dynamite. He hit some big shots, including the reverse lay-up to put the Viks up by two. Then, they stole the inbounds pass, and with a slight delay, ran out the clock. This was obviously the most suspenseful game of this short year, and may even have been more exciting than the tournament win over MSU last year.
Final–75-73 Vikings

Wow! What a rush! I listened to the game on the IUPUI radio network and chatted with Marty about the game on PSUFF. Though the spread was 9 at half time, it could have been a lot worse. The Viks were completely out-manned. However, the Jaguar starters played all but about 2 minutes of game time in the second half, and they paid for the fatigue with the L. The player of the game has to be Dominguez. Mara was essential to the second half comeback, and to keeping it close in the first, however, Dominguez kept the team cool and collected down the stretch, and hit the winning bucket at the end.

NAU 44-43 PORTST
NCOL 14-26 IDST
CSUS 7-26 WEBER
EWU 23-24 UMT
SUU 3-7 MTST

Best Performance: (#1) Montana 24, Eastern Washington 23 - Griz eke out a hard-fought victory despite being outgained by 276 yards.

Worst Performance: Northern Colorado 14, Idaho State 26 - The Bears are now 0-4 against the Bengals since moving up in 2003.

Most Surprising Result: Northern Arizona 44, Portland State 43 - The ‘Jacks rebound from a bad loss partially thanks to two botched 2PC attempts by the Vikings in the 4th. quarter.

Posted on ChampionshipSubdivision.com by Mvemjsunpx