Boxscore

Bakersfield, CA - The one that got away.

That's the way the Portland State basketball team will remember its 92-77 loss to Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday night.

PSU was playing well and held an 11-point advantage over the Roadrunners with 16:57 left in the game, but it all went bad from there. The Runners rallied behind Stephon Carter's 30 points, and then ran away from the Vikings.

It was an ironic twist for Portland State as the Vikings had come back from an 11-point, second-half deficit in its previous game to beat Cal State Fullerton.

The loss dropped PSU's record to 6-3 on the season while Bakersfield improved to 6-5.

PSU built a 21-14 lead through the first 10 minutes of the game. Solid shooting, led by juniors Nate Lozeau and Charles Odum allowed the Vikings to maintain that lead. Senior Paul Guede hit a three-point bomb as the halftime buzzer sounded to give the Vikings a 45-40 lead.

PSU shot 17-28 from the field in the half (.607), including 6-11 from three-point range (.545). Lozeau was 4-5 from the field and had nine points, while Odum hit 3-3, including a pair of threes, and had 10 points.

A Melvin Jones layin with 16:27 to play pushed the Viking lead to 56-45. Soon though, the Runners got back in the game with an eight-point run.

PSU still led 67-64 at the 10:10 mark. A conventional three-point play by De'Aundray Robinson finally got CSUB the lead with 9:39 to go, 69-67, and the Roadrunners never trailed again.

The Vikings went a six-minute span without scoring and were outscored 19-4 over the final eight-and-a-half minutes.

For the game, the Vikings gave up 27 points on 16 turnovers. They also allowed the Roadrunners to shoot .597 from the field (37-62).

"We went into a scoring drought down the stretch... and then we made some stupid turnovers," said PSU Coach Tyler Geving. "You just can't win when you give up 27 points off turnovers, giving up layins on the other end."

Odum led PSU with 18 points. Chris Harriel scored 13 for a Viking team that shot an even .500 from the field. Chehales Tapscott had a team-high 11 rebounds and Melvin Jones handed out seven assists.

Carter finished with 30 points, hitting 14-18 shots from the field. Rashad Savage had a game-high 17 rebounds.

GAME NOTES: PSU has shot 50% or better in each of its last three games… the Vikings are 2-3 on the road… Cal State Bakersfield is now 3-1 against Big Sky opponents this year... the game was the first in history between the two schools… Portland State hosts the University of Portland on Saturday night at the Stott Center. Game time is 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available at all TicketMaster outlets and the PSU Box Office. The game will air on KXL 750 AM and www.kxl.com for one night to provide a stronger signal to listeners.