Portland, OR – This time the offense delivered as Portland State bounced back from an overtime loss to defeat Montana, 61-56, on Saturday afternoon at Viking Pavilion.
 
PSU shot a season-best .512 from the field (22-43) and made 12-16 at the free throw line (.750) to pull out another grind-it-out game against the Grizzlies.
 
"It was another knockdown, drag-out game between these two teams," said Viking Coach Barret Peery. "I'm very proud of our team and how they responded from a tough situation on Thursday. We didn't finish that game. They were hungry to get back on the court and everybody had an opportunity to impact this win."
 
PSU lost in overtime to the Griz on Thursday after leading for nearly 36 minutes of regulation. That was a bitter pill to swallow. But the response on Saturday was excellent.
 
The first half looked a lot like Thursday's game. Neither team led by more than seven and Montana held a slight edge, 28-27, at intermission. In the second half, the game was tied three times before the Vikings finally pulled into the lead.
 
It wasn't a comfortable lead though, as it never got higher than six until the closing minutes. Ahead 50-46 with just under three minutes to play, freshman guard Paris Dawson buried a three-pointer from the right wing. Following a Montana miss, a driving junior guard Ian Burke found Jacob Eyman under the rim. The sophomore center flushed the dunk and PSU led 55-46 – the largest lead of the game – with 2:04 to play. The Vikings then made six of nine free throws down the stretch to hang on for the win.
 
A half-court contest from start to finish and for the second time in three days, Portland State proved to be better on this day. "We've had to find a different way to win games and a style of play than we have traditionally done," said Peery.
 
This marked the fifth time in the last six Big Sky Conference games for PSU that neither team has had a lead of more than 10 points in the game. And, the Vikings have held opponents down, allowing just 59 points per game over the last five contests.
 
Perhaps most pleasing though, was the shooting. The Vikings have struggled from the field all season, but were on the mark in this one.
 
Dawson led the Vikings with 15 points. He hit 3-6 three-pointers, none bigger than the shot with 2:56 to play, and 6-8 at the line. Senior forward Khalid Thomas performed well again with 13 points on 5-9 from the field, and a game-high seven rebounds. Senior guard James Scott added nine points, six rebounds and three assists.
 
The Vikings out-rebounded Montana, 28-23. The Griz shot 21-44 from the field (.477) and 11-16 at the line (.688).
 
Portland State improved to 5-9 on the season with the win. The Vikings are 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference.
 
Montana dropped to 8-9, 4-6 in the Big Sky.
 
Derrick Carter-Hollinger scored 14 points and had four rebounds to lead the Grizzlies.
 
GAME NOTES: Jacob Eyman had another good game in his second start at center. He had eight points (4-6 FG), four rebounds and three blocked shots… PSU is now 5-4 at home this season… Montana beat the Vikings 70-64 in overtime on Thursday night. The Griz took advantage of Robby Beasley's deep three-pointer at the regulation buzzer, tying the game at 54-54 and sending it to overtime… Portland State goes on the road next week, playing two games at Northern Arizona. The teams meet on Thursday night at 5 p.m. PT in Flagstaff. The game can be seen on Pluto TV Channel 1058, www.Pluto.tv, www.WatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.