Boxscore

Portland, OR - Portland State rallied from 10 points down with 1:11 to play, but fell short against first-place Montana, losing 85-84 in a Big Sky Conference game at the Stott Center.

In a wild finish, the Vikings were down 80-70, but scored 14 points in the last 59 seconds including a three-pointer from near midcourt by Phil Nelson at the final buzzer. PSU saw Montana miss a three-point attempt, two free throws, and forced a turnover to rally back.

Alonzo Brandon hit a three for the Vikings with just under 10 seconds to play and it was 83-81 Montana.

After getting fouled on the in-bounds pass, Montana's Will Cherry calmly sank two free throws with eight seconds to play and it was 85-81. Nelson's three-pointer made it close, but the Vikings weren't able to pull off the upset.

With the win, Montana moves to 12-3 in the Big Sky Conference and is near a league championship. The Griz are 20-8 overall.

PSU dropped to 12-15, 4-10 in the Big Sky.

The loss nullified a brilliant effort by Viking junior forward Chehales Tapscott, who poured in a career-high 28 points for PSU. Tapscott hit 12-16 shots, grabbed a team-best seven rebounds with two steals and two assists. He scored 19 in the second half as the Vikings rallied back from a 14-point deficit.

"Down the stretch, Chehales showed what he is capable of doing. I thought he played extremely well against two really good 'bigs,'" said Geving.

It was particularly impressive for Tapscott, who is less than a month removed from surgery on his right knee.

Montana's Cherry was just as good though, totaling 24 points and 10 assists. Brian Qvale added 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Grizzlies.

Montana came out as strong as any opponent the Vikings have seen this year. The Grizzlies hit their first 10 shots from the field to lead 21-8 with 13:34 left in the first half. Cherry hit four shots for nine points and had three assists in the early run.

Tapscott scored seven in a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to get back the Vikings back into the game at 23-20. But Cherry, and a career-effort from forward Mathias Ward off the bench, extended the lead again for the Grizzlies.

Ward and Cherry each had 14 points at half. For Ward it was a career-high, and Cherry added six assists as well. Montana led 47-35 at the break after hitting 18-29 from the field (.621).

The Vikings were a solid 15-30 (.500) but couldn't keep up, despite 11 points from Charles Odum.

"We had a hard time stopping them from the get-go," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. "We got ourselves into a deficit but battled back. They are a very good offensive team with a lot of weapons."

After Montana stretched the lead to 14 early in the second half, Tapscott led the Vikings back. He scored 11 points in the first 7:30 of the half and Portland State pulled within 60-54. Montana pushed the lead back to double digits, but inside the five-minute mark the Vikings went on a 6-0 run. A jumper by Tree Thomas with 3:49 left made it 72-69 Grizzlies.

Montana's lead got back up 10 when Kareem Jamar hit a layin with a 1:11 left, setting up the exciting closing moments. Tapscott hit two baskets, Odum made two free throws, Chris Harriel added a tip-dunk, then Brandon and Nelson made three-pointers.

Both teams shot well over 50% in an extremely well-played game. The Griz made 32-55 from the field (.582), while the Vikings shot 34-62 (.548). Montana had only eight turnovers and the Vikings turned it over just six times.

GAME NOTES: Odum scored 17 points and had seven assists for the Vikings… Montana has beaten PSU four straight times… Tapscott's previous career-high was 25 against Portland on Dec. 18… Portland State will host its final home game of the year on Saturday night. Game time is 7:05 p.m. against Montana State. The contest is available on Freedom 970 AM and www.970.am. A live video stream is available at www.b2tv.com.