complete notes and stats in pdf

LINFIELD WILDCATS (0-1) vs. PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (1-1)
Monday, November 21, 2011, 7:05 p.m. • @ Peter W. Stott Center (1,500), Portland, OR
Television: None
Radio: Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com • Play-by-play: Tom Hewitt • Pregame Show: 6:30 p.m.
Live Video Stream: www.b2tv.com • Live Stats: www.GoViks.com
All-Time Series: PSU leads 12-11

Coming off a last-second home-opening win, the Portland State Vikings will try to make it two in a row when they host Linfield on Monday. Tip-off is 7:05 p.m. at the Stott Center. The game will air on the Vikings' flagship radio station, Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com.
    
Portland State had a thrilling come-from-behind win in its home opener, 66-65, over Seattle on Tuesday. The Vikings trailed by 14 points in the second half, and were down 65-58 with 1:39 to play. But, SR F Chehales Tapscott led the comeback, scoring six of the final eight points, including a short jumper in the lane with four seconds to play to win the game.
    
The Vikings are now 1-1 on the season and have won their last six home openers in a row. They take on a Linfield team that competes at the NCAA III level in the Northwest Conference. The Wildcats are 0-1 with a game coming this Saturday.
    
Monday's game with Linfield will be the second of four non-conference games at home. After the game, the Vikings travel to a Thanksgiving tournament at Wyoming to face the Cowboys, Louisiana Tech and Maryland-Eastern Shore. Seven of the last nine non-conference games will be on the road.

STORYLINES
• The series: Portland State leads the all-time series, 12-11, however most of the games were played prior to 1970... the teams have met three times in the last nine years with the Vikings winning all three by an average margin of 31 points... the last meeting was an 85-52 Viking win at the Stott Center on Dec. 9, 2009... Portland State won an exhibition game between the schools last year, 119-74.. Viking Coach Tyler Geving is 4-0 all-time against lower division schools.
• The Wildcats: Linfield is a Division III member of the Northwest Conference. The Wildcats were 9-16 last year, including 5-11 in conference play. Two starters and nine letterwinners return from that squad.
• Head Coach Larry Doty is a Linfield alum in his 25th season as the head coach. He is 321-307 overall in his career, including 0-3 against the Vikings.

VIKING HEAD COACH TYLER GEVING
Tyler Geving begins his third season as Head Coach and seventh season overall with the Portland State program. Geving has a 28-36 record with the Vikings. He was 13-19 in 2009-10 and led PSU to the Big Sky Tournament semifinals. In 2010-11, his Vikings were 14-16 overall.
    
Geving is a 1996 graduate of Central Washington and has been in collegiate coaching for 17 years.
    
The third-year Head Coach is assisted by Andy McClouskey (2nd year, Oregon State, 1982), Eric Harper (7th year, Central Washington, 1995) and Anthony Owens (3rd year, Great Falls, 2006). Former Viking player Mickey Polis is the Director of Operations (3rd year, Portland State, 2009).
    
Geving's record breakdown:
    • 15-15 all-time in non-conference games, 13-21 all-time against Big Sky Conference opponents
    • Geving is 1-0 all-time against Linfield.
    • Geving is 19-9 at home. He is 9-27 on the road, including 2-2 in neutral site games.

GAME WEEK ACTIVITIES
VIKINGS ON THE RADIO: All Portland State basketball games can be heard on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. The Viking Pregame Show begins one-half hour prior to kickoff each week. Tom Hewitt does the play-by-play.
VIKINGS ON TELEVISION: Currently, Portland State has three games that are scheduled to be televised in the Portland area. They are: Nov. 11 against Denver (tape delay at 10:30) on Root Sports; Dec. 18 at Oregon State on Root Sports; and Jan. 29 vs. Montana on Altitude/CSN. Other televised games are expected to be announced later this fall.
VIKINGS ON THE INTERNET: Live streaming video of all Portland State home and Big Sky Conference games can be seen free at www.b2tv.com... Live stats for Portland State home games are at www.GoViks.com.
TICKETS: Tickets for all home games are available for $15 (reserved) and $10 (general admission). Youth prices are $10 and $7. Groups of 15 or more get special admission prices. To purchase tickets by phone, call 1.888.VIK.TIKS or 503.725.3307. Tickets are on sale at the PSU Ticket Office, located in Smith Memorial Student Union. Tickets are also available at the Stott Center beginning 90 minutes prior to tipoff.

FAST BREAKS
WINNING LINES  
• PSU has now won six straight home openers and 12 of 16 home openers since reinstating the program in 1996.
• The Vikings have won three in a row against Seattle.
• The Vikings are 1-0 at home this year... PSU was 10-5 at home in 2010-11, 4-4 in Big Sky home games... over the last five seasons, PSU is 56-14 at home, including 29-11 in Big Sky Conference games.
• The Vikings are 0-1 on the road this season... the Vikings were 4-11 on the road in 2010-11, including 2-0 in neutral site games... PSU was 1-7 in Big Sky road games.
• PSU has gone 112-38 in 150 games at the Stott Center since the 1996-97 season. Including home games at Memorial Coliseum (12-6) and the Rose Garden (19-9), the Vikings are 143-53 at home over the past 16 seasons.
• PSU is 37-27 in Big Sky games since the start of the 2007-08 season, 42-28 including tournament games.

INSIDE PRESENCE: Portland State's big men have dominated during the first two games of the season. SR C Nate Lozeau and SR F Chehales Tapscott have combined to average 31.0 points, 20.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. Here are the highlights:  
• Lozeau scored a career-high 19 points at Denver... he followed that with 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds in the in over Seattle... he is shooting .632 from the field (12-19).
• Tapscott scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds at Denver... he followed that with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Seattle. In that game, Tapscott scored six of the final eight points, bringing PSU back from a seven-point deficit with 1:39 to play. He hit the game-winning shot with 4.6 seconds to play.
• Tapscott has double-doubles in both games this year, and eight in 26 career games at Portland State.

ON THE OTHER HAND: PSU's perimeter starters are still struggling to score, hitting 14-52 shots (.269) through two games, and 4-19 from three-point range (.211). They were improved in the win at Seattle though, making 10-25 (.400) and 3-14 (.214). SR G Charles Odum had 17 points against Seattle, but was 4-10 from the field, 0-3 from three-point range. He did make 9-10 free throws.

SIXTH MAN SUCCESS: JR F Michael Harvey has started his Portland State career well, playing 20 minutes in each of the first two games. Harvey scored four points with two rebounds and two blocked shots at Denver. He came back to hit all three field goals (including a pair of three-pointers) and score nine points with four rebounds against Seattle.

ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO: The Vikings have been without three key players during the first two games. Those three would possibly have been the first three off the bench if available. That will change on Monday against Linfield as FR G Gary Winston has been given clearance by the NCAA and will be eligible to play. Winston, a qualifier out of high school, originally attended the University of Idaho last year. But, he left school and enrolled at Walla Walla CC where he did not play basketball. Due to a variety of transfer issues, the NCAA had to given special clearance before Winston would be able to play. Those issues were resolved late last week. Winston will serve as the backup point and provide minutes at shooting guard... the Vikings still need two more players to have the depth that Coach Tyler Geving needs and desires. JR F Martin Whitmore is out indefinitely with an elbow injury suffered in the preseason exhibition game with Western Oregon. Whitmore provides much-needed perimeter shooting as the Vikings are just 6-26 from three-point range so far this year... also missing is JR F Renado Parker, who will not be eligible until the end of fall term due to his transfer status (arriving for winter term last year). He is likely to be able to play on Dec. 10 vs. Utah Valley.

SHOOT!: Portland State, which has led the Big Sky Conference in scoring the last four years, has gotten off to a sluggish offensive start. PSU is averaging just 63.5 points after two games. PSU has averaged nearly 76 points per game over the last four seasons. The Vikings are shooting .398/.231/714 after two games.

FREE IS A GOOD PRICE: Part of Portland State's second-half comeback against Seattle had to do with getting to the free throw line. The Vikings made 16-19 free throws in the second half and 19-27 overall in the game... so far, PSU has made more free throws than its opponents have attempted this season (PSU 35-49, Opponents 20-28).

VIKINGS SIGN PROSSER EARLY: Portland State men's basketball coach Tyler Geving announced the signing of Lamont Prosser on Nov. 8 to a National Letter of Intent for the 2012-13 academic year. Prosser is currently a sophomore forward at Sheridan (WY) Junior College.
    Prosser, 6-8, 255-pounder from Fort Wayne, IN, was a second team All-Region 9 selection last season at Sheridan. In 34 games, he averaged 12.2 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting .542 from the field.
    “Lamont is a big low-post presence,” said Geving. “Losing (senior starting center) Nate Lozeau (next year), Lamont is a guy that can step right in to that role and play at the Division I level. He is a proven back-to-the-basket player. I am excited about his height, size and ability to play with his back to the basket.”
    “Coach (Anthony) Owens did a great job of recruiting Lamont and building a relationship with him and his family.”
    Prosser will give the Vikings quality size in 2012-13 as they will lose Lozeau and top rebounding forward Chehales Tapscott to graduation.

2011-12 SEASON HIGHLIGHT REEL
• SR C Nate Lozeau posted a career-high 19 points in the Vikings' 69-61 loss at Denver (11/11).
• SR F Chehales Tapscott hit a short jump shot in the lane with 4.6 seconds left to beat Seattle, 66-65 (11/15). Tapscott brought PSU back from a 65-58 deficit with 1:39 to play. He scored six of the final eight points, and had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the game. SR C Nate Lozeau added 13 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.