Box Score
Portland, OR - Sacramento State had never seen Portland State's Chehales Tapscott play due to a knee injury last season that knocked him out for both meetings between the Hornets and the Vikings. But by halftime on Wednesday night at the Stott Center, the Hornets had seen all they ever wanted of Tapscott.

The senior from Hillsboro had an entire game's worth of numbers at intermission as he ignited a brilliant performance by Portland State. The Vikings raced to a 49-22 lead at the break, shooting 67% from the field and committing only one turnover. Tapscott already had 13 points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots, two assists and a steal by halftime.

"That was pretty impressive. We shared the ball, 12 assists, one turnover, and worked for good shots," said Coach Tyler Geving of his team's first-half performance. "That's about as good as we could play in the first half to be up 27 at halftime. I was really encouraged by the way we played."

Portland State went on to an 85-67 win for its third straight victory. The Vikings are now tied for third in the Big Sky Conference with Idaho State at 7-6. PSU is 13-12 overall.

The second half was never in question as PSU went up by as many as 31 points. The lead was still at 28 with six minutes to go before the Hornets shaved it to 18 at the end.

Tapscott played little in the second half, but finished with 17 points (5-8 FG, 6-6 FT), 11 rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots. He also had three steals and three assists to go with his Big Sky-leading 10th double-double.

"He got another double-double tonight," Geving said of Tapscott. "He and (seniors) Nate (Lozeau) and Charles (Odum) - its the end of their careers. They have to lay it on the line every single night. Che stepped it up and continues to be a leader."

Tapscott's was one of several excellent performances by Viking players.

Odum scored 16 points, while Renado Parker came off the bench to hit 6-6 field goals for 12 points. Martin Whitmore also had 10 points with 3-4 three-pointers. Gary Winston scored eight points with a team-high six assists.

Portland State shot 30-46 for the game for a .652 mark. It was the fourth time this season that the Vikings have shot over 60% and they are 4-0 in those games.

Sacramento State came into the night having won four out of five, but the Hornets were never in this one. They dropped to 9-16 on the season, 4-10 in the Big Sky.

PSU held the Hornets to 29% shooting in the first half and 39% for the game.

Jackson Carbajal led Sac State with 19 points. Heath Hoffman scored 17 points.

GAME NOTES: PSU is 16-1 all-time against Sacramento State in Portland, and have won the last six… the Vikings are just one win short of last year's 14-16 record. They have already bettered their conference mark (7-6 this year, 5-11 last year)… the Vikings play a non-conference game at Idaho on Saturday. Tip-off is 7:05 p.m. and the game airs on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com.