Box Score
Sacramento, CA - A career night by Charles Odum offset Viking foul trouble and a game effort by Sacramento State as Portland State beat the Hornets, 94-88, in a Big Sky Conference contest.

Odum scored 38 points, converting 11-16 shots from the field, 5-8 from three-point range and 11-12 at the line. He scored the most points by a Viking in more than three years.

The win was a big one for Portland State (14-13, 8-6) as it took third place alone in the Big Sky and clinched a berth in the conference tournament beginning Mar. 3. The Vikings are also much closer to hosting a quarterfinal round home game that day.

Renado Parker also came up big with a career-high 19 points, hitting 7-12 from the field and 5-7 at the line. His performance was important as the other Viking big men were in foul trouble most of the night.

The game was tied at 18 with 10:02 to play in the first half. But Odum scored five points in an 11-1 run to give the Vikings a 29-19 lead. PSU appeared to have control at that point, but the Hornets rallied back to within 38-37 at halftime.

Chehales Tapscott played just seven minutes in the first half because of fouls, but the foul trouble truly emerged in the second half. Nate Lozeau picked up his fourth foul shortly after intermission. Tapscott picked up his fourth with 11:06 left in the game.

A Jackson Carbajal basket at the 16:05 mark gave the Hornets their first lead of the game at 47-46. From that point the teams literally traded baskets with 14 lead changes over the next eight minutes.

Finally the Vikings broke away with a 9-0 run featuring a three-pointer and two free throws by Odum. That gave PSU an 82-72 lead inside of four minutes left. In fact, Odum scored 27 of his 38 in the second half, including 8-8 free throws in the last 3:42 of the game when the Vikings held the Hornets at bay.

PSU Coach Tyler Geving raved about the play of his senior guard as well as Parker.

"I walked out of here and I saw 38. I didn't know he had 38," said Geving. "He was effective and really good tonight.

"Renado stepped up too, playing (a season-high) 32 minutes. When Lozeau got in foul trouble early in the second half, Renado stepped in and really played well… That was a pretty good win without (much time from) Chehales Tapscott."

Point guard Lateef McMullan added 14 points and five assists for the Vikings, who shot .536 for the game and 26-35 at the free throw line (.743). PSU is 14-1 when outshooting its opponent this season.

Sacramento State dropped to 9-18 this year, 4-11 in the Big Sky. The Hornets were led by 26 points from John Dickson. Dylan Garrity added 18 points and 13 assists.

The Vikings have won four straight Big Sky Conference games. If they can pick up a win over Eastern Washington on Saturday, they will have clinched a home playoff game on Mar. 3.

GAME NOTES: The Vikings officially earned their ticket to the Big Sky Conference Tournament earlier in the evening when Northern Colorado lost its' 10th league game of the season. With Eastern Washington's win over Idaho State, PSU stands alone in third, while those two are tied for fourth at 7-7. PSU is now guaranteed no worse than sixth place in the Big Sky… the Vikings also beat the Hornets 85-67 in Portland on Feb. 15… the last Viking to score at least 30 points in a game was Dominic Waters with 32 in a win over Cal Poly on Nov. 21, 2009. The last Viking to score more than Odum's 38 was also Waters with 41 in a four-overtime win at Northern Arizona on Jan. 4, 2009… PSU finished its Big Sky road schedule with a 5-3 mark. Only once has a PSU team done better on the road in league play (6-2 in 2007-08)… PSU's 14 wins matches last year's win total (14-16)... Portland State returns home to host Eastern Washington on Saturday night. Tip-off is 7:05 p.m.  at the Stott Center. The game airs on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com. A live video stream is also available at www.b2tv.com.