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Portland, OR - First-place Eastern Washington lived up to its billing as the top-scoring team in the Big Sky Conference, pulling out a 92-85 win over Portland State at the Stott Center.

The Eagles, also one of the nation's top scoring and three-point shooting teams, shot 32-64 for the game (.500) and made 13 three-point field goals as they led the entire night, then held off a Vikings' second-half rally.

Junior guard Tyler Harvey scored 23 points, right at his NCAA-leading average of 23.4, had six rebounds and five assists to lead Eastern. The Eagles improved to 13-4 on the season, 4-0 in the Big Sky Conference.

Portland State suffered through a stagnant first half offensively, making only 10-30 shots (.333). But the Vikings came alive in the second half behind the shooting of guards Gary Winston, Tim Douglas and Bryce White. That trio combined for 45 of PSU's 56 second-half points as the Vikings cut a 17-point deficit all the way down to five in the closing minutes. 

Winston scored a season-high 25 points, tieing a career-high by making five three-pointers, and had five assists. Douglas scored 18 of his season-high 20 points in the second half and handed out a season-high seven assists. White scored 12, getting 10 after intermission, including a pair of three-pointers in the Vikings' rally.

At one point PSU made eight of nine shots in the second half, trimming the Eagles' 17-point lead to just six. That rally seemed to exhaust the Vikings though as they went more than four minutes without scoring. Eastern Washington grew its lead back to 83-70 with 3:47 to play.

Douglas kept the Vikings in it, sparking another run with a pair of three-pointers, then a steal and a layup. That had PSU down only 88-83 with 1:08 left in the game. The Eagles, who never trailed, didn't allow the Vikings to make a field goal the rest of the way.

Portland State played well in the second-half, outscoring the Eagles, 56-50. However, the slow start to the game proved deadly. The Vikings missed their first eight field goal attempts and were down 42-29 by halftime. PSU hit 20-36 second-half shots (.556) and 8-13 from three-point range (.615), but still had too much to overcome against a very good Eastern Washington team.

The Eagles lost star forward Venky Jois to an ankle injury in the first half. But freshman forward Bogdan Bliznyuk made up for his absence, hitting 6-8 shots, 5-6 at the line and scoring a season-high 18 points. Parker Kelly scored 19 points, hitting 6-9 shots from behind the arc. 

PSU fell to 8-7 with the loss, 2-3 in the Big Sky Conference.

GAME NOTES: 
    •    Braxton Tucker scored 12 points for the Vikings. Tiegbe Bamba grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. 
    •    PSU is now 5-2 in close games this season (decided by eight points or less).
    •    PSU is 5-2 at home, having lost their last two at the Stott Center. 
    •    Eastern Washington's win ended a three-game Viking winning streak in the series. PSU had also won seven straight in the Stott Center against the Eagles.
    •    Portland State was playing its 200th game in the Stott Center since basketball was reinstated for the 1996-97 season. Including Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Garden, PSU has played 236 home games overall.
    •    Portland State hosts the University of Idaho (7-8, 2-2) on Saturday night. Tip off is 7:05 p.m. Live video, audio and stats are available at GoViks.com by clicking on the Game Day Box.