Boxscore

Portland, OR - A team known for its long-range shooting, the Portland Pilots pulled the old switcheroo on Portland State, tearing it up in the paint and beating the Vikings, 78-67.

The Pilots outscored the Vikings inside, 52-28, capitalizing on drives from backup guards Tim Douglas and Derrick Rogers. Those two hit 16-20 shots, mainly on dribble penetration, and combined to score 39 points. Portland forward Luke Sikma did the rest of the dirty work inside, making 8-9 shots for another 16 points.

Portland State lost its second game in a row and fell to 6-4 on the season. The loss also ended a six-game home winning streak for the Vikings.

Portland improved to 9-3 on the year and ended a four-game losing streak to the Vikings. The Pilots have won five of their last six overall.

In the first half, the Vikings did a solid job of holding down the nation's top three-point shooting team (.456 on the season), holding the Pilots to just 2-7 from long range. However, Portland controlled the tempo of the contest, making it a half-court game and shot 14-24 overall (.583). With that, Douglas exploited the Vikings on the drive, hitting 6-8 shots and scoring six first half points.

Portland's largest lead was 34-25 just before halftime and the Pilots went into the locker room with a 34-27 advantage. PSU, shooting just 10-29 in the first half (.345), never held a lead.

A Rogers' driving layin with 14:20 to play in the game gave Portland its first double-digit lead of the night at 49-38. The Vikings never got it back within single digits.

Portland finished the game shooting 34-57 from the field (.596) and remarkably, only 3-16 from three-point range (.188). The Vikings were 24-63 (.381) and just 3-17 from the arc (.176).

Douglas had 27 points on 10-13 from the field and 6-8 at the line.

"We didn't stop the ball on the bounce and that's what is frustrating. I really felt we did a good job on (Portland's top three-point shooters Eric) Waterford, (Jared) Stohl and (Nemanja) Mitrovic," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. Those three were 2-11 from three-point range. "But then we see Douglas go for 27 and Rodgers for 12."

For the Vikings, Chehales Tapscott turned in a career-best performance with 25 points on 10-15 from the field and 4-4 at the line. He also had nine rebounds and two steals.

"I thought Che' played really well. It was the best game of the year for him scoring-wise and with those rebounds," said Geving.

The Vikings' top three scorers, Chris Harriel, Melvin Jones and Charles Odum combined for just 24 points and made only 7-36 shots from the field.

GAME NOTES: The Vikings are now 4-1 at home this year… Portland is 4-1 in road games… The Vikings go on the road for a Monday game at Nevada. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30. The game airs on Freedom 970 AM with a pregame show starting at 7 p.m.