Boxscore – HTM | PDF
 
Los Angeles, CA – Viking basketball appears to travel well, particularly to southern California. The latest example is a 94-85 win at Loyola Marymount on Wednesday night.
 
Portland State was fortunate to play seven of its first eight games within the Portland city limits this season (though just three at home). The two times they have left the city of Roses have resulted in wins – first at UC Riverside (94-82, Nov. 18) and now over LMU at Gersten Pavilion on Wednesday night.
 
Playing a major role in that win was senior guard Bryce Canda, who tied his career-scoring high with 20 points and set a new career high with 13 rebounds. Also with a career game was freshman guard Holland Woods, scoring 20 points with four assists.
 
The victory was the Vikings third straight and improved their record to 7-2 on the season. They are 3-0 in their three road games (1-2 at neutral sites).
 
It was a familiar formula for Portland State as the Viking full-court press befuddled the Lions. PSU forced a total of 33 turnovers and scored 34 points off them. That made the difference as Portland State's shooting was a mediocre 30-68 from the field (44%) and 9-27 from three-point range (33%). The Vikings also had 20 turnovers of their own.
 
PSU came out on fire, jumping to a 13-4 lead after three and a half minutes of play and never trailed in the game. The largest lead of the first half was 43-30. The Lions scored the last seven points of the half to close to 43-37.
 
LMU came out better in the second half, pulling within a single point on three occasions. In fact, PSU led only 72-70 with 6:26 to play. Then a 12-0 run over the next two minutes, sparked by 7-7 free throw shooting, gave the Vikings the distance they needed to pull out the win.
 
Portland State's free throw shooting was strong in the second half (15-18, 83%) and for the game (25-31, 81%).
 
Canda made 8-14 shots from the field, 4-9 three-pointers, to get his 20 points. He also had four assists and three steals. Woods was 6-9 from the field and 8-9 at the line for his 20 points. He too had three steals.
 
Portland State made 20 steals in all, including six by junior forward Jamie Orme.
 
Three other Vikings were in double figures with 14 points from junior forward Brandon Hollins, 13 points from senior guard Deontae North, and 12 points from junior guard Michael Mayhew.
 
Point guard James Bateman had a game-high 26 points and seven assists for Loyola Marymount, but also six turnovers.
 
The Lions dropped to 4-4 on the season.
 
GAME NOTES: Portland State entered the game leading the nation in steals at 13.0 per contest. They now average 13.8… PSU is 2-0 against West Coast Conference teams… the Vikings now lead the all-time series with LMU, 4-3. The Lions beat the Vikings, 78-62, last season… the 7-2 record is PSU's best since starting 7-2 in 2008-09… senior forward Traylin Farris sat out the game due to an ankle sprain suffered last Saturday against Portland Bible… Portland State is on the road this Saturday to face another West Coast Conference school. The Vikings will play at Santa Clara in a 7 p.m. game. Live video can be found at www.TheW.tv. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.