Portland, OR - The opportunities were there. The forced turnovers, the offensive rebounds. But Portland State simply could not hit enough shots. The result was a 78-72 home loss to cross-town rival University of Portland at the Stott Center.

The Vikings had 27 offensive rebounds and forced the Pilots into 15 turnovers resulting in 17 points. However, PSU made only 25-75 shots from the field (.333) and 13-23 at the line (.565). That was a killer in a game in which the Vikings led with as little as 4:16 to play. It was also ironic as the Vikings entered the game shooting .506 from the field and averaging over 85 points.

Portland State dropped to 3-3 on the season with loss. Portland improved to 4-4 and has now won five straight games against the Vikings, including the last three in the Stott Center.

For the second year in a row Alec Wintering was trouble for Portland State. The Pilot point guard had 21 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals in the win. The Vikings were led by 18 points and 15 rebounds from Cameron Forte, and a career-high 17 points by Zach Gengler.

An early 11-0 run by the Pilots had them ahead 19-13 eight minutes into the game. It was tight the remainder of the half until a 10-1 Pilot run in the last three minutes. Portland went into the locker room with a 37-29 lead.

It was a sloppy first half that included 20 turnovers and poor shooting. The Vikings made just 11-43 shots in the first half (.256) despite getting 17 offensive rebounds. Portland was not much better at 15-38 (.395) but that was good enough for the lead.

Portland's largest lead was 57-46 with 11:44 to play. The Vikings rallied though and got a pair of big three-point field goals from freshman Armani Collins. His second gave PSU a brief lead at 63-62 with 5:50 left in the game.

The lead changed hands three times down the stretch before Portland closed it out on an 11-4 run. Trailing 73-70 in the final minute the Vikings got two good looks at a tying three-pointer but couldn't hit.

"We were beating ourselves which is a little frustrating. The other frustrating thing is we out-rebounded them but just didn't convert our second chance points, where they converted theirs," said Viking Coach Tyler Geving.

Portland shot 30-67 from the field (.448) and 11-14 at the line (.786) to better the Vikings. Jason Todd scored 14 points and Jarrel Marshall had 12.

De'Sean Parsons scored 11 points for PSU. Isaiah Pineiro added nine points, five rebounds and three steals off the bench.

GAME NOTES: PSU was missing guard Bryce White, who sat out the game with an ankle sprain suffered in the previous contest… the Vikings are now 2-1 at home… of PSU's seven non-conference home losses over the last nine years, three have come to the Pilots… Collin Spickerman blocked three shots… Portland State plays at Washington State on Sunday in a 1 p.m. game. It will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.