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Portland, OR – Portland State's relentless defensive pressure was too much for the Willamette Bearcats as the Vikings rolled to a 125-61 victory at the Viking Pavilion.
 
The point total matched the 125 scored by the Vikings last year in a win over Portland Bible and was the most since a 133-110 win over Rocky Mountain on Feb. 3, 1978.
 
Six Vikings scored in double figures, and all 11 that played scored. Guards Holland Woods and Michael Nuga each scored 22 points to lead PSU. Forward Jamie Orme (19 points, 13 rebounds) and Robert McCoy (11 points, 12 rebounds) each had double-doubles.
 
PSU turned the Bearcats over 29 times and scored 44 points off those turnovers. That led to a 46-84 (.548) shooting night, and the Vikings also made 20-24 (.833) at the free throw line.
 
The Vikings grabbed command of the game from the outset. PSU forced eight Wildcat turnovers in the first five minutes and raced to a 23-0 lead. Willamette finally scored at the 14:17 mark on a three-pointer by Justus Eaglesmith.
 
By halftime Portland State had run up its lead to 70-25. The Vikings had 10 steals, five by Woods, at the break. The transition led to 26 points off 15 Willamette turnovers. PSU was 25-43 from the field (.581), 8-16 from three-point range (.500) and 12-13 at the free throw line (.923). The Vikings also had a 25-11 edge in rebounding and just three turnovers.
 
The second half was more of the same as PSU cruised to an easy win, improving its record to 2-1.
 
"I was pleased," said Viking Head Coach Barrey Peery. "Even when the score got lopsided, we played the way we're supposed to play. And that's the thing you worry about, those games can get sloppy. We are learning more and more about where we are supposed to be defensively."
 
Woods finished the game with seven of the Vikings 21 steals. He also had four assists and did not turn the ball over. He made 7-12 shots and 6-6 at the line. Nuga was 9-11 from the field and 2-2 at the line. Orme hit 8-14 shots, adding two blocked shots and two steals.
 
"It was fun to see somebody like Nuga come off the bench and get comfortable. Jamie was unbelievable with his activity. Robert McCoy goes and gets a double-double. I thought Boo Boo's (Woods) push in transition was really, really good," said Peery.
 
Eaglesmith led Willamette with 17 points. Jordan Jenkins added 15 points and four rebounds.

GAME NOTES: This was Barret Peery's 200th career coaching win, combining junior college (178-30) and Division I (22-15) games… PSU is now 51-8 in non-conference home games over the last 12 seasons… using a quirky NCAA rule, it was a counting game for Division I Portland State, but an exhibition game for Division III Willamette... big man Filip Fullerton made his debut after sitting out the first two games due to injury. He had two points and three rebounds in seven minutes… Portland State goes on the road next week to play in the Vandal Holiday Hoops Showcase in Boise, ID. The Vikings will play UC Santa Barbara on Friday and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. Both games tip off at 4 p.m. PT and will be on Pluto TV Channel 242 and www.WatchBigSky.com.