Corvallis, OR – A stirring second-half comeback came up agonizingly short as Oregon State held off the Portland State Vikings, 67-62, at Gill Coliseum.
 
After their shabbiest first half of the season, the Vikings were excellent in the second half. PSU shot .517 from the field after halftime, mounted a pair of big rallies, and actually led on two occasions in the final four minutes.
 
But after a Monty Scott driving three-point play with four minutes to go, giving PSU the lead, the Vikings were unable to convert another field goal. Still, the Vikings led 62-61 inside the final minute.
 
Oregon State's Rodrigue Andela scored inside with 24 seconds left to get the Beavs back on top at 63-62.
 
The Vikings were called for an offensive foul with 13 seconds left. PSU had to foul after that and the Beavers went on to make four straight free throws to close out the game.
 
It was quite a comeback for the Vikings who scored only 17 points in the first half on 6-20 shooting and committed 11 turnovers. They trailed 32-17 at intermission.
 
PSU showed some life at the start of the second half, hitting its first five shots from the field, including back-to-back hoops from Charles Jones. The deficit was trimmed to 38-29.

A few moments later the Vikings went on a 12-0 run. Scott made a three-point play and a driving layin, and was followed by five straight points from John Hall who buried a corner three-pointer, making it 43-41 OSU with 11:53 to play.

Oregon State pushed the lead back to nine at 53-44 with 7:49 left in the game. From there the Vikings put on another rush, outscoring the Beavers 14-4 over the next four minutes. Scott's driving three-point play with 4:00 on the clock put PSU on top for the first time on the night, 59-57.

OSU's Zach Reichle answered with a three-pointer and the Beavers were back on top, 60-59. Three free throws from the Vikings over the next minute gave PSU its last lead, 62-61, with 2:13 left.

Down the stretch the Vikings had three missed shots and a turnover as OSU hung on to win.

"I'm really proud of our group. We played miserably in the first half and really couldn't find ourselves. We needed to start trusting more at both ends of the floor. So that was the talk and the theme at halftime, 'trust each other and play together'," said Viking Coach Barret Peery.

"I thought our guys really persevered and battled and gave themselves every opportunity to win. I'm heartbroken for the group because I thought they earned it. But we need to play 40 minutes not 20."

Scott led the Vikings with 16 points and five rebounds in the game. Paris Dawson added 13 points, and Khalid Thomas scored 11 despite playing only 16 minutes due to foul trouble.

After shooting only 30% in the first half, the Vikings finished at .429 from the field. They made 13-16 at the line (.813). Oregon State shot .377 from the field and hit 19-29 at the line (.655).

The battle on the glass was practically even at 34-33 in favor of OSU. However, the Vikings had 15 turnovers to only 10 for the Beavers.
Reichle and Jarod Lucas each scored 15 points for the Beavers.

PSU drops to 2-4 on the season. Oregon State improved to 4-3.

GAME NOTES: Portland State is now 0-3 on the road this season… PSU has never beaten the Beavers (0-15)… Portland State returns to Big Sky Conference play next week at Eastern Washington. The Vikings play the Eagles on Dec. 31 at 6 p.m., then Jan. 2 at Noon. Both games can be seen on Pluto TV Channel 1053, www.Pluto.tv, www.WatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.