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Portland, OR - Portland State rallied back from a 17-point second-half deficit to defeat Loyola of Chicago, 67-63, at the Stott Center.

Aaron Moore and Andre Winston Jr. each scored 14 points in the second half as PSU outscored Loyola, 47-28 from the come-from-behind win. Moore finished with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds, hitting 9-14 shots from the field. Winston tied his career-high with 16 points, hitting 5-7 shots from the field.

The win improved PSU to 2-1 on the season, 2-0 at the Stott Center. Loyola dropped to 2-3 overall. 

The game was the second of the day in a three-day Portland State Tournament. UC Davis won the opener over Southern Illinois Edwardsville, 80-75. The Vikings will play SIUE on Saturday, then UCD on Sunday.

The contest was close early, but an 11-0 Loyola run late in the first half turned a 22-17 lead to a 33-17 advantage just before the half.

Loyola simply outshot the Vikings in the first half. The Ramblers made 13-25 from the field (.520) while the Vikings hit only 6-25 (.240). Otherwise the numbers were virtually even, except of course for a 35-20 Loyola lead at halftime.

The Ramblers pushed their lead to 17 early in the second half before the Vikings put on an 11-0 run of their own. That closed it to 39-33 Ramblers with 14:09 to play.

PSU kept the deficit at single digits the rest of the way. A Zach Gengler three-pointer with 3:44 to play finally tied the game at 57-57. After the Vikings forced a Rambler turnover, Aaron Moore hit a short jumper in the lane with 3:08 left giving PSU its first lead since the opening moments of the game at 59-57.

PSU never led by more than four, but never trailed again. The Vikings hit 6-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the win. 

"We need to figure out how to come out and make shots at the beginning of the game," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving. "We just kind of hung in there after a lethargic start on offense and defense."

The Vikings improved to .552 shooting in the second half, and .407 overall, but really turned the game on defense. PSU forced Loyola into 16 turnovers, nine of which came in the second half, and scored 26 points off those mistakes.

In addition to Moore and Winston, Tim Douglas and Marcus Hall also scored in double figures. Douglas had 11 points, seven assists and two steals. Hall added 10 points. 

The Vikings also outrebounded the Ramblers, 33-26.

Jeff White scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds for Loyola. Christian Thomas added 11 points and Milton Doyle scored 10.

GAME NOTES: Portland State is now 32-4 in non-conference games at home since the start of the 2006-07 season… Zach Gengler was the leading scorer off the bench for the Vikings with eight points, making 3-4 shots and 2-2 from three-point range… Aaron Moore now has eight double-doubles in his 30-game PSU career… Portland State returns to action tomorrow, facing Southern Illinois Edwardsville at 5:30 p.m. The preliminary game will be UC Davis vs. Loyola at 3 p.m. The game is available via live stream at www.GoViks.com and www.WatchBigSky.com.

PORTLAND STATE TOURNAMENT SCORES

Friday
UC Davis 80, SIU Edwardsville, 75
Portland State vs. Loyola Chicago 5:30 p.m.

Saturday
Loyola Chicago (2-3) vs. UC Davis (2-2) 3 p.m.
Portland State (2-1) vs. SIU Edwardsville (1-3) 5:30 p.m.

Sunday
SIU Edwardsville vs. Loyola Chicago 11:30 a.m.
Portland State vs. UC Davis 3 p.m.