Portland State University Athletics

Boxscore - HTM | PDF

Edwardsville, IL - Southern Illinois Edwardsville closed out Portland State with a 19-4 run down the stretch, defeating the Vikings, 74-64, at Vadalabene Center.

Though the game was close all the way, PSU was ahead for most of the second half and seemingly in control. The Vikings led 60-55 with 7:49 to play. But a late run led by big man Yemi Makanjuola and point guard CJ Carr carried the Cougars to victory.

Makanjuola scored a career-high 20 points, hitting 7-9 shots from the field, and grabbed nine rebounds. Carr added 14 points and five assists.

The Vikings were led by a career-high 15 points from Collin Spickerman. Khari Holloway and De'Sean Parsons each scored 10 points.

Neither team led by double-digits in the game until SIUE moved the margin to 10 in the closing seconds. 

PSU got a great effort off its bench, but the Vikings were inconsistent with shooting - just .407 in the second half - and committed 18 turnovers.

The Vikings took the lead on a late first-half rally sparked by Khari Holloway, Isaiah Pineiro and Namdi Okonkwo. Holloway hit a three-pointer with just over three minutes to play, putting the Vikings up 26-24. Then, Pineiro scored seven points and Holloway hit another three. Suddenly the Vikings led by eight, 36-28, just before halftime. Okonkwo also had three rebounds and two blocked shots during that stretch. 

With the exception of one moment early in the second half, PSU maintained the lead, though never by more than seven points. SIUE crawled back to a tie on a driving three-point play by Carr. That had the score even at 60 with 7:22 to play in the game. A Carlos Anderson bucket with 5:30 left had SIUE ahead 62-60 and the Cougars never trailed again.

Portland State's loss was its third straight as the Vikings drop to 3-5 on the season. SIUE won its second in a row and is now 3-7.

PSU shot .466 from the field and .636 at the line. SIUE shot .463 from the field and .688 from the line. The Vikings had a one rebound edge, 34-33. The big difference came in points off turnovers as the Cougars scored 24 off PSU's 18 giveaways. The Vikings had only 11 points off eight SIUE turnovers.

GAME NOTES: Portland State has played SIUE of the Ohio Valley Conference each of the last three years. PSU won the last two years by three points each in games played in Portland… the Vikings were missing Bryce White for the third straight game due to an ankle injury, and were not allowed to play Donivine Stewart as a condition of his transfer from SIUE to PSU… Portland State returns home next Thursday to host CSUN at the Stott Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Live video, audio and stats are available at GoViks.com by clicking on the Game Day box.