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Portland, OR - As opening acts go, this was a pretty good one.

Sure the Portland State Vikings were heavily favored to beat lower-division Evergreen State in their exhibition opener, but that didn't make the result any less impressive. The Vikings rolled the Geoducks, 122-67, at Lewis and Clark's Pamplin Sports Center.

New Head Coach Barret Peery's high-energy, 94 feet of relentless defensive pressure was just too much for the Geoducks. Evergreen State committed 32 turnovers that Portland State turned into 47 points. 

The Vikings shot .522 from the field and had contributions up and down the lineup as they got 66 points off the bench. 

Deontae North led six Vikings in double figures with 22 points in 17 minutes. He made 8-11 shots from the field, including four three-point field goals. Newcomer Jamie Orme added 20 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes. Orme made 7-9 shots, including three emphatic dunks.

North scored 11 points in the first 3:18 of the game as the Vikings raced to an 18-3 lead. In that span he hit three straight three-pointers. The Vikings' advantage ballooned to 41-12 by the 8:26 mark of the first half followed a pair of dunks by Orme and a third slam by Brandon Hollins.

The Viking defense clearly rattled Evergreen State. PSU had 19 points off 11 Geoduck turnovers through the first 11 minutes. By halftime the Vikings led comfortably, 61-26. They had forced Evergreen State into 18 turnovers and converted them into 27 points.

The second-half was no closer as the Vikings continued to push the pace and took advantage of 51 free throw attempts in the game, making 39. PSU's largest lead was 58 points.

Also scoring in double figures for the Vikings were Bryce Canda with 14, Ryan Edwards with 13, Brendan Rumel with 12 and Holland Woods with 11. Woods made 9-9 free throws. He and fellow point guard Deante Strickland each had six assists and four steals for the Vikings.

PSU made a total of 20 steals in the game and out-rebounded Evergreen State, 46-35.

Peery played all 12 available players, with 11 playing at least 14 minutes and nobody playing more than 22.

"I was excited to get everyone in the game and get them an opportunity," he said. "We got to use some of our rotations, and put guys in different spots. I thought the identity of our team and how it is supposed to look is pretty good for Nov. 5. We have a long way to go, but how it is supposed to look wasn't bad."

He was also pleased that the Vikings didn't waste their opportunity against a lower division school. 

"If you are watching scores each night the last week or so, there have been plenty of teams that have been in dogfights in these situations," Peery said. "I've seen some big-name teams let down in these situations. I saw Auburn lose early and Washington was in a dogfight with a non-division I team. So, I was really glad we came out, we swung the first punch and we got them on their heels and we got to play our way."

Shawn Spencer and Ryan Quigley each had 10 points to lead the Geoducks.

GAME NOTES: Portland State is playing its home games this season at Pamplin Sports Center on the Lewis and Clark campus as construction on the new Viking Pavilion at PSU is being completed… Portland State's non-conference opener is next Saturday at the University of Portland. The Vikings and Pilots meet at the Chiles Center in a 7 p.m. game… PSU's home opener is Tuesday, Nov. 14 against Willamette. That game tips off at 8 p.m.