Greeley, CO – Revenge is sweet. For the Portland State Vikings it has been a way of life in Big Sky Conference play.
 
PSU played a near flawless second half to defeat the Northern Colorado Bears, 73-65, on Saturday afternoon at Bank of Colorado Arena. The win avenged a Thursday two-point loss at the same venue on a last-second shot by the Bears.
 
In this season of back-to-backs against the same Big Sky opponents, PSU has started only 1-5 in the Thursday games. But they have adjusted, and bounced back to go 5-1 in the Saturday rematch.
 
"A couple things we adjusted on made it a little easier for us in the second half," said Viking Coach Barret Peery. "On offense, we put some different guys in the high pick and roll and they had a hard time dealing with it. And we adjusted how we pressed them in the second half as well. It made a difference.
 
"We were really sore about the loss on Thursday and the guys did a good job coming back from that."
 
This win was particularly sweet as the Vikings jumped back over the Bears into sixth place in league play at 6-6. PSU trails fifth-place Montana State (6-5) but just one-half game. UNC's Thursday win had moved them ahead of the Vikings, but now they move back to seventh at 6-7.
 
James "Monty" Scott led PSU's offensive attack with 19 points, hitting 6-9 shots from the field, and handing off six assists. Khalid Thomas added 14 points on 5-9 shooting, and grabbed six rebounds.
 
As a team, the Vikings shot 26-51 from the field (.510), including 12-22 in the second half (.545).
 
The Viking defense showed up as usual, holding the Bears to only 22-63 from the field (.349), including 10-35 in the second half (.286), despite the Bears making four three-pointers in the final two minutes.
 
A 3-12 start from the field put the Vikings behind early in the game. They trailed 14-6 at the second media timeout. But Scott sparked a 15-4 run, scoring six straight points, and the Vikings led 21-18 at the 4:36 mark.
 
PSU went into halftime ahead 33-32. Scott had eight points on 3-3 from the field and handed off three assists.
 
Scott's jumper early in the second half gave the Vikings a 43-34 advantage. The Bears narrowed the gap to two a few moments later, but the Vikings were able to hold the lead for the remainder of the game. PSU had its largest lead at 66-53 with 1:58 to play before the flurry of late threes by UNC.
 
Portland State's win was its fifth in the last six games. The Vikings are now 9-10 overall this season.
 
Northern Colorado drops to 10-9 overall. The Bears were led by 23 points from Daylen Kountz. Kur Jockuch had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
 
GAME NOTES: This was the 11^th straight opponent the Vikings have held below 70 points… the Viking bench was productive with 24 points and eight rebounds. Elijah Hardy, John Hall and Kyle Greeley all had seven points each… Northern Colorado won Thursday's game, 66-64, on a jump shot by Matt Johnson with 3.4 seconds left to play… PSU is now 2-6 on the road… the Vikings are 8-7 all-time in games played in Greeley… Portland State returns home next week to host Southern Utah in a pair of games. On Thursday night the teams tip off at 7:05 p.m. followed by a Saturday game at 12:05 p.m. Both games will be live streamed on Pluto TV Channel 1051, www.pluto.tv and www.WatchBigSky.com. Live stats will be available at www.ViksLive.com.