boxscore

Portland, OR - Senior post Renado Parker tied a career-high with 20 points as the Vikings put in another impressive offensive performance at home, beating Eastern Washington, 89-80.

The Vikings scored 90 in their last outing, a win over Southern Utah, for their two highest-scoring games of the season.

Against Eastern Washington, PSU shot lights out in the first half, then withstood a cold spell in the second half to pick up its second straight home win. 

Parker hit 9-17 from the field and 2-2 at the line for his 20 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds. Aaron Moore scored 17 points with nine rebounds for the Vikings. Michael Harthun added 18 points and five assists. In addition, Gary Winston matched his season high with 14 points and handed out five helpers.

Viking Coach Tyler Geving pointed to his guard play as a big key. "We are getting more consistent guard play with Harthun getting 18 and Gary Winston with 14. Lateef (McMullan) played well, and Dre Winston off the bench played well. So when those four guys are playing well its a good recipe for success," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving.

The Vikings, now 7-16 overall and 5-11 in Big Sky Conference play, are two games out of post-season tournament position with four to play.

PSU hit 10 of 13 shots to open the game and led 21-10 at the 13:40 mark. Moore and Parker each had eight points in the opening run.

The Vikings controlled the first half of play with their shooting. PSU made 19-29 field goals for a .655 mark and led 43-31 at halftime. The Eagles were just 13-36 for a .361 mark.

Parker and Harthun each had 12 by halftime. Harthun's half was perfect, making 4-4 from the field, 2-2 at the line and a pair of three-point field goals. Parker made 6-10 shots for his 12 points.

Unfortunately, Portland State's shooting went south quickly in the second half. PSU led 50-37 early then went cold. Tyler Harvey sparked an Eagles' 16-0 run with 11 points in the rally. His three-pointer at the 13:41 mark put the Eagles ahead for the first time at 52-50.

When Moore finally scored for the Vikings at the 11:42 mark, PSU had gone seven minutes without a field goal. That seemed to restart the PSU offense. The Vikings proceeded to go on a 12-2 run, buoyed by back-to-back three-pointers by Gary Winston.

"It was a little nerve-wracking there for a little bit," said Geving of his team's cold stretch. "The guys did a good job by hanging in there and finally getting some stops on defense. Our offense kind of fed off that."

Once the lead was back up to seven, the Vikings held on making 11-12 free throws in the final two minutes.

PSU finished 34-64 from the field for a .531 percentage. They made 5-12 from three-point range (.417) and 16-19 at the line (.842).

Tyler Harvey scored a career-high 23 points  for the Eagles. Venky Jois scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Martin Seiferth posted 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.

EWU (8-18, 6-10) shot 32-72 overall for a .444 mark. Leading the Big Sky with 8.6 three-pointers made per game, Eastern managed just 4-20 in this one.

GAME NOTES: Harthun was almost perfect on the night, hitting 5-6 from the field, 2-2 from three-point range and 6-6 at the line… PSU is now 7-4 at home this season… in the Dam Cup competition PSU picked up two points with the win. Eastern Washington still leads, 8-7, with one game to be played - a women's basketball game on Thursday in Cheney. The winner of that contest will win the Dam Cup for 2012-13. PSU has won it the last two seasons…  Portland State hosts a non-conference game on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings host UC Riverside in a non-traditional 1:05 p.m. start. The game airs on Freedom 970 AM, www.freedom970.com and www.BigSkyTV.org.