Portland, OR - Damian Lillard was as good as advertised and led his Weber State team back from a double-digit deficit to beat Portland State, 88-81, in a Big Sky Conference game at the Stott Center.

Lillard came into the game leading the nation in scoring at 25.5 points per contest. He nearly had that at halftime, finishing with 38 points overall, five rebounds and five assists. 

The win, despite a stout effort by the Vikings, kept the Wildcats in first place in the Big Sky at 4-0. WSU is 12-3 on the season.

The Vikings lost their first home game of the year and fell to 7-9 overall. The Vikings are 1-3 in the Big Sky.

The first half was one of the best played in any game in any season as the two teams combined to shoot over 65% from the field and make only five turnovers. PSU led 51-44 at the break after making 18-27 shots, 6-11 from three-point range and 9-10 at the line.

Lillard, a 6-3 junior guard who was being followed by no less than 11 NBA scouts at the game, had 23 by halftime, hitting 7-8 from three-point range. None was more impressive than a catch-and-shoot three from the mid-court line as the halftime buzzer sounded.

The Vikings were ready from the jump. A 12-0 run had them ahead 21-8 at the 13:32 mark of the first half. Later in the half, Michael Harthun hit back-to-back three-pointers increasing PSU's lead to 15 at 47-32. But Lillard scored eight in the last two minutes of the half - including the buzzer beater - to close it to just a seven-point margin.

"That was a big shot at the end of the half," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. "It gave them a little momentum going into the locker room."

Scott Bamforth led Weber State's second-half surge, scoring 12 of the Wildcats' first 20 over nine minutes. The Wildcats finally tied the game at 71-71 on a three-pointer by Lillard with 8:25 to play. That came in the middle of a 17-5 Wildcat run. It was close the rest of the way, but Portland State never led again.

"They are a good team, they are explosive and they can score on you at any time," said Geving. "We just didn't finish. We had opportunities to do so and that's what hurts a little bit because I thought our effort was really good. It has been the last two games here. We need to keep that up."

After scoring 51 in the first half, PSU managed only 30 in the second half, shooting just 35% from the field and 0-5 from three-point range.

The loss nullified a brilliant performance by Viking Chehales Tapscott. The senior forward had a season-high 26 points on 10-15 from the field and 5-6 at the line. He also grabbed eight rebounds with three assists, three steals and a blocked shot.

"He played pretty good tonight. He did about everything and we kept going to him," said Geving of Tapscott's 17 second-half points. "He is just a workhorse. Che is a good player and we have got to keep going to him down the stretch."

Weber State finished at .537 from the field, while the Vikings shot .509 overall. The Wildcats had just six turnovers in the game, hit 10 three-pointers - eight by Lillard - and 20-25 at the line.

Bamforth had 19 of his 21 points in the second-half. Lillard scored 15 in the half for his 38.

"Those two are pretty good players. They just took momentum in the second half, especially Bamforth with his 19 points," said Geving.

GAME NOTES: Nate Lozeau scored 13 points and Charles Odum had 12 for the Vikings… PSU is now 5-1 at home this year… Weber State has won six straight games… Portland State is off until next Thursday when it plays at Northern Colorado. Game time is 6:05 p.m. PT. It can be heard on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. The live video stream is available at www.b2tv.com.