Boxscore

Portland, OR - An unlikely three-point shooter, Paul Guede hit the biggest shot of his Portland State career as his late trey gave the Vikings an 83-81 season-opening win over Pepperdine at the Stott Center.

Guede hit the three with five seconds on the clock, turning a one-point deficit into a Portland State lead. The Waves raced the ball up the court and got a running jumper from Jonathan Dupre that missed badly at the buzzer.

Guede's shot capped a 10-point night off the bench and proved to be big in the absence of Viking three-point specialist Phil Nelson. The senior forward injured his foot earlier in the week and was unable to play for PSU.

Contributions came from all over as Melvin Jones led the way with 23 points and five assists. Chris Harriel posted a career-high 16 points, Chehales Tapscott scored 15 with a game-high eight rebounds, and Tree Thomas added a career-high 13 points.

Jones staked the Vikings to an early lead, hitting three straight three-pointers in the opening five minutes. A three-pointer by Guede put PSU up 18-7 at the 14:23 mark of the half.

The much bigger Waves got back in the game by working the offensive glass. Eleven offensive rebounds led to 12 second-chance points in the first half. A late first-half 15-0 run put the Waves up 46-35 with 1:49 left. Pepperdine led 48-41 at intermission.

Pepperdine's largest lead of the second half was 52-41 just two minutes in. The Vikings battled back, again sparked by a pair of long-range threes from Jones. The Vikings were as close as 60-59 and had four opportunities to take the lead but couldn't convert.

Finally, Tapscott made a fastbreak layin with 8:10 left and the Vikings led 64-63.

It was a chess match the rest of the way as neither team led by more than two points from the 9:10 mark until Harriel hit a driving reverse layin with 2:15 left. PSU took an 80-76 advantage on Harriel's basket.

Keion Bell came back with a jumper for the Waves, but then missed a pair of free throws with 1:01 to play.
The Vikings rebounded and ran clock before Tapscott was fouled. He, too, missed both free throws and Pepperdine took what appeared to be the final possession trailing 80-78.

Dupre buried a three-pointer off a drive-and-dish from Mychel Thompson. The Waves led 81-80 with 15 seconds to play.

PSU hustled up court, got the ball into Jones' hands and he drove the lane. When the defense collapsed, Jones dished to a wide open Guede in the right corner who calmly buried the game winner.

The Waves shot .525 from the field on the strength of a number of put backs off the offensive glass. However, the Vikings made up for with a 31-38 effort at the foul line (.816).

GAME NOTES: Viking forward Phil Nelson reinjured his left foot in practice earlier in the week. He did not play and is expected to be out for several weeks. Last season, Nelson hit eight three-pointers on his way to a career-high 28 points in a win at Pepperdine… PSU was playing its first game of the season at home for the first time in eight years… Portland State travels to the SMU Classic next week. The Vikings play Southern Methodist on Friday, Lamar on Saturday, then UC Riverside on Sunday.