Boxscore

Bozeman, MT - Montana State gained a measure of revenge for a Big Sky Tournament loss to the Vikings that ended their 2009-10 season, beating Portland State, 74-65, at Worthington Arena.

PSU beat MSU 68-65 in Bozeman last March in a Big Sky quarterfinal game when Melvin Jones hit a three-pointer in the final seconds. The Vikings had no such magic on Thursday night.

Portland State saw its brief two-game winning streak come to an end, dropping to 9-7. The Vikings are now tied for fourth place in the Big Sky Conference with Weber State at 2-2.

Montana State maintains its hold on second place in the league. The Bobcats are 10-7 overall, including 7-0 at home. MSU is 4-1 in league play.

The opening 10 minutes were tight as a Tree Thomas tip-in at the 8:58 mark had the game tied 19-19. But the Bobcats went on a 10-4 run and had the biggest lead of the half at 29-23.

That would prove to be the largest lead of the first half though. Chris Harriel's 11 points kept the Vikings close as they went into halftime trailing 38-33.

Coming out of halftime, Montana State pushed its lead to nine at 42-33. The Vikings answered with a 9-0 run to tie the game.

Montana State came right back with a 13-2 run and held a 55-44 lead, marking the first double-digit lead of the game. PSU got as close as three at 60-57 with 7:54 to play but never made it all the way back.

Despite making just 6-22 free throws in the game (.272), the Bobcats did enough right to earn the win. MSU shot 46% from the field, outrebounded the Vikings, 42-33, and had only 11 turnovers. A 12-rebound advantage for the Bobcats in the second half allowed them to pull away for the win.

"Look at the rebounding stats, that's the difference in the game," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. "They had 19 offensive rebounds."

PSU made 24-53 from the field for a 45% mark.

Harriel scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Vikings. Charles Odum added 14 points, hitting 5-7 shots from the field.

Erik Rush led four Bobcats in double figures with 16 points. Bobby Howard had 15 points and 12 rebounds.

GAME NOTES: The Vikings are now tied for fourth place in the Big Sky Conference with Weber State. Both teams are 2-2… PSU has had very little success at Montana State all-time. The Vikings are 4-18 all-time in Bozeman, 3-13 in Big Sky games… Charles Odum is 25-36 shooting in Big Sky games to lead the league in field goal percentage at .694… PSU is 0-5 when scoring less than 69 points… the Vikings play at Montana on Saturday night in a Big Sky Conference game. Tip-off is 6:05 p.m. PT as the game airs on Freedom 970 AM. It can also be seen on a live video stream at www.b2tv.com… next Saturday night's game against Northern Arizona at the Stott Center will tip off at an unusual time. Game time is 5 p.m. as the contest airs on Altitude TV.