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Palo Alto, CA – A chilly second-half shooting performance cost the Vikings a lead and ultimately the game as Portland State lost at Stanford, 79-67, at Maples Pavilion.
 
The Vikings had a one-point halftime advantage but two segments of nine straight missed shots in the second half allowed the Cardinal to pull past them. PSU made only 12-41 second-half shots (.293), and 26-82 for the game (.317).
 
Portland State dropped to 3-3 with the loss. Meanwhile, Stanford was 28-52 from the field (.538) in improving to 4-3 on the season.
 
Junior guard Michael Nuga provided a spark off the bench with 17 first-half points, staking the Vikings to a 35-34 lead at intermission.
 
Portland State had another sluggish start offensively, missing its first 10 shots. Enter Nuga, who has played well of late off the bench. He had seven points in an early run that had the Vikings on top 12-8.
 
Stanford battled back to lead 30-23 with 5:33 left in the half. Nuga responded again, scoring 10 points in a 12-4 rally by the Vikings going into halftime. That gave PSU the lead and Nuga had 17 points in 13 minutes of action.
 
The Vikings also feasted off 11 Cardinal turnovers, scoring 13 points, and had a 28-16 rebounding advantage. If PSU could have shot better than .341 from the field, it might have had a comfortable lead.
 
A cold streak to open the second half proved costly again. The Vikings missed their first six shots and Stanford capitalized. The Cardinal hit 4-5 shots in an 8-0 rally and went ahead 42-35. PSU tied it again at 46-46 with 11:33 to play. From there, the Cardinal ripped off 10 points in a row as PSU hit a stretch of nine straight misses. The Vikings never got closer than seven points after that.
 
Sophomore guard Holland Woods scored a game-high 20 points and passed off five assists for the Vikings. Also playing well off the bench again was junior center Sal Nuhu with season-highs of 15 points and 14 rebounds with two blocked shots.
 
Portland State out-rebounded Stanford 51-36, including 24 offensive boards. Despite scoring 21 second chance points and getting 21 points off turnovers, the Vikings couldn't overcome their shooting woes.
 
Oscar Da Silva had 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots to lead a balanced attack for the Cardinal.
 
GAME NOTES: Stanford avenged an 87-78 loss to the Vikings last season at the PK80 Invitational… Nuga also grabbed a season-high nine rebounds… Derek Brown made four steals… PSU will play four of its final non-conference games at home… Portland State returns home on Saturday to host Portland Bible at 7:05 p.m. at the Viking Pavilion. The Vikings host the University of Portland on December 5, also at 7:05 p.m. Both games will be live stream on Pluto TV Channel 232 and www.WatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.