Portland, OR – This time, the defensive performance was rewarded. 
 
Portland State's relentless pressure set the tone early, and the offense matched effort. The result was a 69-43 Big Sky Conference win over Idaho State at Viking Pavilion. 
 
The Viking defense forced 14 turnovers in the first half, and held the Bengals to 5-27 from the field (.185) in the second half. That allowed them to cruise to a wire-to-wire victory and break a five-game losing streak. 
 
On offense, the Vikings bounced back from a shoddy shooting performance on Thursday night in a loss to the Bengals. PSU was 26-58 from the field for a respectable .448 mark, and hit 14-18 at the free throw line (.778). 
 
But this win was about the defense. The Vikings' full-court pressure forced 18 turnovers in all, which they turned into 17 points. Idaho State finished at 13-47 shooting from the field (.277). In fact, the 43 points allowed by PSU were the fewest by a Division I opponent in 12 seasons.
 
Khalid Thomas had a strong all-around game with 14 points on 4-6 from the field and 6-7 at the line. He grabbed six rebounds, had three steals, two assists and a blocked shot. Point guard James Scott also scored 14 points. Center Amari McCray added 10 points and six rebounds. His backup, Jacob Eyman, came off the bench for a season-high 11 points on 5-6 shooting.
 
"I thought from top to bottom we had great contributions and moments from everybody who contributed to the win," said Viking Head Coach Barret Peery.
 
"Let's give the guys a lot of credit for bouncing back after a disappointing Thursday night. They really responded with how we need to play and what we need to do to win. The story of the game was our defense in the half court, in the full court and how we defended the three-point line."
 
Portland State forced the Bengals into four turnovers in their first five possessions of the game. That allowed the Vikings to jump to a 6-0 lead and they never trailed. ISU struggled to handle PSU's defense throughout the half, eventually coughing up 14 turnovers for 12 Viking points. 
 
The largest lead in the half was 37-23 following a pair of Thomas free throws in the final minute. The senior forward scored a dozen in the half to lead the Vikings, who also got seven points off the bench from Eyman.
 
Back-to-back jump shots by Scott five minutes into the second half stretched PSU's lead to 48-31. Scott hit a three and followed it with a mid-range jumper 30 seconds later. 
 
Midway through the half, John Hall lit up the Viking sideline with an emphatic driving dunk and followed with another basket inside a moment later. When Ian Burke scored a putback layin on the next PSU possession, the Vikings led 54-33 with 10:30 to play and the Bengals were out of it.
 
Portland State got a much-needed win as it improved to 2-4 in Big Sky Conference play and 3-8 overall. 
The Bengals entered the game tied for second in the standings, but fell to 8-7 overall, 5-3 in league.
 
ISU got 10 points each from Tarik Cool, Robert Ford and Brayden Parker. 

GAME NOTES: The Vikings won the rebounding battle, 41-30. Thomas, McCray, Hall and Elijah Hardy had six each to lead PSU… the Vikings had a season-high five dunks in the game… PSU is now 3-3 at home this season… this is the second of a six-game home stand for the Vikings. It is the longest home stand by a Viking team since Dec. 16, 2004-Jan. 8, 2005… Portland State will host a non-conference game against Saint Martin's on Tuesday evening at 6:05 p.m. The game can be seen on Pluto TV Channel 1051, www.Pluto.tv, www.WatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.