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Portland, OR – A 51-point second half propelled the Portland State Vikings to an important 87-77 Big Sky Conference victory over Montana State at Viking Pavilion.
 
The win moves Portland State into sixth place in the Big Sky, gives them a season sweep of the fifth-place Bobcats and the Vikings are within one game of fourth place. 
 
Known for its full-court trapping defense, Portland State has been showing a lot of offense recently as well. The Vikings shot .518 from the field, had their third game in the last four shooting over .500, and have scored 81 or more points in four straight and six of the last seven. 
 
The Vikings also made 9-21 three-pointers in the game (.429) and 20-23 free throws (.870).
 
"Being healthy has been good for our offense, and the ball has really been moving. Our guys finally have a lot of good experience with each other. They are getting comfortable and everybody knows their role. We have taken a lot of good shots and good shots tend to go in," said Viking Coach Barret Peery.
 
The Vikings trailed by three points at halftime, but outscored MSU 51-38 after the break to pull out the win. PSU is now 14-14 on the season, 8-8 in the Big Sky.
 
The second-half performance was also good considering the Vikings were short-handed. Both Matt Hauser and Markus Golder were unable to play due to injuries sustained during the game.
 
"The fact that we didn't have Hauser and Markus, we just continued to go 'next man up' and the guys did a very good job," Peery said.
 
Point guard Holland Woods led the way with 22 points, making 5-9 from the field, 2-4 from three-point range and 10-10 at the free throw line. Center Sal Nuhu had a big game with 12 points, 11 rebounds, four blocked shots, three steals and three assists. It was Nuhu's fourth double-double in Big Sky play.
 
Rashaad Goolsby scored 10 points off a Viking bench that contributed 34 points and shot .542 from the field.
 
Montana State led most of the first half. Portland State led most of the second half. But neither team led by double digits until late in the game.
 
Nuhu dunked with 7:43 to go in the first half, giving the Vikings a 26-23 lead. PSU then went the next six minutes without a field goal. Montana State built a 35-28 advantage during the Viking drought. MSU forward Borja Fernandez scored seven of the Bobcats' 12 points in the run. The Bobcats cruised into a 39-36 halftime lead.
 
Portland State burst into the lead with a 13-2 run to open the second half. A fastbreak layin by Alonzo Walker had the Vikings ahead 49-41 just two minutes into the half.
 
MSU trimmed the margin down to two points with 10:12 to go before the Vikings went on another 15-4 run with Woods scoring the first seven points of the rally. PSU was ahead 76-63 with 5:25 to go and was able to hang on from there.
 
Portland State's offensive performance was particularly impressive as the Bobcats came into the game allowing only 66.1 points and .407 shooting by opponents. 
 
The Viking defense set the tempo for the offense, forcing 17 turnovers with 12 steals, and scoring 21 points off turnovers.
 
"The game was a little slow in the first half," said Peery. "In the second half we really turned up the pressure and got the pace our way, and that got us some easy baskets." 
 
Amin Adamu led five Bobcats in double figures with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Fernandez scored 15 points off the bench for MSU. 
 
The Bobcats are now 14-12 on the season and 8-7 in the Big Sky.
 
GAME NOTES: With 22 points in the game, Holland Woods moved to 1,304 career points, tying Anthony Lackey (1998-2002) for fifth place all-time at Portland State... the Vikings are now 9-3 at home this season… PSU beat the Bobcats, 77-76, on Jan. 11 in Bozeman.,, the Vikings go on the road next week, playing at Idaho State on Thursday, then Weber State on Saturday.