Box Score
Boxscore

Missoula, MT - A brilliant Portland State effort for 36 minutes unraveled in the last four as the Vikings lost to second-seeded Weber State, 69-63, in a Big Sky Conference Tournament semifinal at Dahlberg Arena.

PSU led 62-58 with 4:59 to play in the game, but the Wildcats went on an 11-1 run down the stretch to beat the Vikings and advance to the conference title game on Wednesday night.

Weber State improved to 24-5 on the season, while the Vikings dropped to 17-14. PSU lost to a Big Sky opponent for the first time in eight games.

Weber State's Damian Lillard has been the unquestioned star of the Big Sky Conference all season, but Portland State's Charles Odum has played a pretty strong second fiddle throughout the year. In this one, Odum's 16 first-half points gave the Vikings all the confidence they needed. But Lillard owned the endgame, scoring 13 of his 22 points in the last nine minutes. Odum had 24 in the game for the Vikings.

Portland State came out the aggressor against the heavily-favored Wildcats, jumping to a 7-0 lead. Most impressive, they held Lillard, a 25-point-a-game scorer, without a point for the first seven minutes.

The Vikings maintained their lead throughout an entertaining and well-played half. PSU led by seven on several occasions and took a 35-30 lead into halftime as Odum hit a 20-foot jumper at the horn.

Weber State made 11-22 from the field and 5-7 from three-point range in the first half, but the Vikings matched it with 13-27 and 5-8. PSU's Chehales Tapscott also had 11 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots by halftime.

The Wildcats came out of halftime on a 10-4 run. Scott Bamforth buried a three-pointer with 17:38 to play tying the game for the first time at 37-37. One minute later Bamforth hit another three giving Weber State its first lead at 40-39.

PSU rallied back with 10 points in a row, capped by an inside basket by Renado Parker, and the Vikings' had their largest lead 49-40 with 14:01 to play.

But the Wildcats chipped away, led by none other than Lillard, who went on his scoring jag over the last nine minutes. Gelaun Wheelwright gave the Wildcats the lead for good at 64-62 on a drive with 2:23 to play. Odum made one of two free throws with 39 seconds left, but it was all the Vikings could muster at the end. Weber State tacked on five free throws for the final score.

Portland State had four turnovers and four missed shots in the last four minutes of the game.

"It was frustrating. I felt for about 39 minutes there we outplayed them," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. "They made the plays down the stretch and they are obviously a good veteran team and well-coached but I felt like we played pretty well tonight."

Weber State shot .511 for the game, .444 from three-point range and .813 at the line, while committing just nine turnovers. The Vikings shot .462, made 8-14 from distance, but only 7-9 free throws while committing 15 turnovers. The Wildcats scored 21 points off the Viking turnovers and Geving felt that was a huge factor in the loss.

"When we turned it over, it seemed like they just went the other way for easy layups and that was kind of the whole game," he said.

"Both teams executed well but (at the end) they made the plays and we didn't."

"I'm proud of my team," said Geving. "It was a pretty good effort. I thought we competed all night. They should put their heads up high and be proud of what they did."

In addition to Odum's 24, Tapscott score 19 points with 11 rebounds. Wheelwright's 15 points off the bench supported Lillard's 22 points and four assists.

GAME NOTES: Portland State reached the Big Sky final four by defeating Montana State, 75-53, in the quarterfinal round… Weber State won the two regular season meetings, 88-81 in Portland, and 92-79 in Ogden… Charles Odum went over 1,000 points for his career and now has 1,012. He is just the third two-year player to reach 1,000 career points… Odum had his 13th 20-point game of the year and Tapscott posted his 13th double-double of the season… Portland State is 2-5 all-time in Big Sky Conference semifinal games… Portland State still has one game left to play, a Saturday contest at Seattle University. Tip-off is 7:10 p.m. at Key Arena. The game airs on Freedom 970 AM and www.freedom970.com.