Boxscore - HTM | PDF
 
Portland, OR – A rousing second-half comeback came tantalizingly close to complete, but Portland State fell short, losing to CSU Bakersfield, 76-71, at the Viking Pavilion.
 
The Vikings trailed by 19 with just over 15 minutes to play and were still down 16 with under 12 minutes to go. But they ran off a 17-2 burst, capped by a Michael Nuga three-pointer, to pull within 63-62 with 6:44 to play.
 
Down the stretch though, the Vikings managed only two field goals. And the Roadrunners made just enough free throws to pull out the victory, hitting 9-12 over the final five minutes.
 
The loss was the second in a row at home for PSU and third straight overall. The Vikings finish their non-conference slate with a 5-6 record.
 
Bakersfield, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, won its fifth straight game and is now 8-4.
 
"I'm very proud of our team for fighting and coming back and being in a position to win the game," said Viking Coach Barret Peery. "I think in the last 80 minutes of home basketball, we have only really played (well) the last 20. So I am encouraged we showed signs of life we had not had the last couple of games. There are no moral victories, but we did fight.
 
"Some guys showed some good life and responded to the position we were in. If they hadn't responded like that tonight I would have been really concerned. I don't want to forget that we have played two really good teams the last two home games (11-1 Loyola Marymount, 8-4 CSU Bakersfield) and I give them a lot of credit."
 
Nuga's return to the lineup proved important to the Vikings. After missing the previous two games with a sprained big toe, the Vikings second-leading scorer came up big, scoring 20 of his team-high 24 points in the second half. He, along with Robert McCoy (8 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals) and Michael Mayhew (12 points on four three-point field goals) provided a spark off the bench.
 
However, the offensive struggles that have plagued the Vikings off and on during the preseason appeared again in the first half of this game. PSU was down 17-8 after eight minutes of play.
 
Roadrunner guard Damiyne Durham hit a three-point shot at the 4:03 mark of the first half to push the Roadrunner lead to 30-15. That gave Durham seven points in a 9-1 CSUB run.
 
The 'Runners largest lead came at the halftime buzzer when Jarkel Joiner hit a deep three-pointer for a 47-29 advantage. Durham and Joiner teamed up to blister the Vikings with a combined 14-17 shooting in the first half. Durham did most of the damage with 18 points, hitting 7-9 shots, including 4-6 three-point field goals. Joiner scored 16 on 7-8 field goals.
 
Bakersfield was 19-30 from the field at halftime (.633), while the Vikings made only 8-23 (.348). Also fueling the Roadrunners were nine first-half steals, leading to 17 points off turnovers.
 
The Bakersfield lead grew to 19 on three occasions, with the latest at the 15:28 mark of the second half.
 
Then the Vikings got hot. Nuga led the remarkable 17-2 run over a five-minute span that featured a pair of his three-pointers and one from Mayhew. But after that the Vikings made only one field goal, before McCoy hit a layin in the closing seconds.
 
Portland State finished at 22-57 from the field (.386), 9-26 from three-point range (.346) and 18-26 at the line (.667). The Roadrunners were 26-55 from the field (.473), 6-17 from three-point range (.353) and 18-24 at the line (.750). Rebounding (36-35 in favor of the Vikings) was virtually even, as were turnovers (17 for the Vikings, 16 for the 'Runners).
 
Joiner finished with 24 points for CSUB, hitting 10-16 shots from the field. Durham did not score in the second half to finish with 18.
 
GAME NOTES: Sal Nuhu started his first game of the season for the Vikings, totaling 10 points and six rebounds… Holland Woods led the Vikings with nine assists… PSU does not play again for 11 days… "We will come back from Christmas and get to work. We will understand that everybody is 0-0 going into conference play. It's going to be a dog fight for the next two months and you will see us fight every time," said Peery… Portland State will open its Big Sky Conference schedule on Dec. 31, hosting Northern Colorado in a 2:05 p.m. game. Tickets are available at 1-888-VIK-TIKS or www.GoViks.com. The game will be live stream on Pluto TV Channel 232 and www.WatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.