Boxscore

Dallas, TX - Portland State shut down UC Riverside and broke away from a halftime tie to win 69-58 in the final game of the Southern Methodist Classic at Moody Coliseum.

The Vikings held the Highlanders to just 7-28 field goals in the second half (.250) after UCD made 16-28 in the first half (.571). Meanwhile, the Vikings were consistent, shooting 54% in the field half and 50% in the second.

PSU won its second game in a row and improved to 3-1 on the season.

The Highlanders maintained the lead for much of the opening period. Down 28-23 with just over five minutes to play, Chris Harriel hit a three-point field goal to close the gap. A moment later, Tree Thomas hit a short jumper to tie the game. Then with 3:23 left, Harriel gave the Vikings their first lead since the opening moments of the first half, at 31-28.

The teams left it knotted up at 36-36 at halftime. PSU shot .538 from the field in the half while UC Riverside shot .571. Viking big men Nate Lozeau and Thomas combined to hit 8-9 field goals in the half for 16 points.

After falling behind 39-36 early in the second half, the Vikings went on a 20-6 run. Charles Odum scored six points in the rally and PSU went up 56-45 on a Harriel layup with 8:10 to play.

Harriel extended the lead to 14 at 63-39 on a three-pointer just two minutes later. Chehales Tapscott drove for a conventional three-point play with 5:16 to play and suddenly the Vikings led 66-49.

The Highlanders never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

"Chris Harriel had a great game, Lozeau was great again," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. "Odum and Thomas gave us a great spark off the bench."

Harriel finished with 18 points and was the Vikings' leading scorer for the second game in row. The sophomore guard hit four three-pointers, had four rebounds and four assists.

Lozeau has 12 points on 6-7 field goals. Thomas and Odum each had 10 points off the bench and combined to hit 9-15 shots.

Phil Martin had 13 points to lead UC Riverside. The Highlanders dropped to 2-3 on the season.

GAME NOTES: The Vikings lost the opener of the tournament to SMU, 69-53, then beat Lamar, 102-98, on Saturday… PSU is shooting .481 from the field and .769 at the line through four games... Harriel leads the Vikings in scoring this season at 15.5 points per game… Lozeau made 12-14 shots for 24 points in the Vikings' two wins… Portland State is off for the next 10 days. The Vikings return to action at home on Dec. 1 when they host the Seattle Redhawks. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at the Stott Center. The game airs live on Freedom 970 AM with the pre-game show at 6:30. A live video stream is available at www.b2tv.com and live stats are at GoViks.com.