Portland, OR – Portland State led for a long time on Thursday night, but in the end came up one play short, taking a two-point loss to a talented Montana team, 66-64, at Viking Pavilion. 
 
PSU was ahead for 30 minutes in the contest, but could never pull away from the Griz  with the largest lead of the night being only seven points. Montana, which struggled to shoot early, finally hit some key shots down the stretch making it a battle to the finish. 
 
Michael Carter III gave the Vikings their final lead, 63-62, on a score inside with 1:26 to play. Robby Beasley responded with a difficult scoop layin for Montana, just beating the shot clock, for 64-63 lead with 54 seconds to play. 
 
PSU turned the ball over on the next possession. There was still time, but Josh Bannan drew a foul and his two free throws had Montana ahead, 66-63. 
 
The Vikings' Khalid Thomas was fouled with 6.4 seconds to play. He made the first, then intentionally missed the second, but PSU couldn't come up with the ball and Montana went on to win.
 
Damion Squire had 17 points to lead Portland State in his first start of the season. He made 7-12 from the field and 3-3 at the line. James Jean-Marie came off the bench for 16 points on 8-10 field goals and nine rebounds in 22 minutes. 
 
"We got big contributions from both Squire and Jean-Marie," said Viking Coach Jase Coburn. "They played really well. A lot of it has been about them getting back their rhythm after being out. James was out for almost a month and Damion was out for at least six months. It was just his third game back." 
 
The Vikings dominated inside, out-scoring Montana, 50-22, in the paint and out-rebounding the Griz, 36-31. The Vikings also had one of their best shooting nights, hitting 27-55 (.491). However, PSU made just 1-10 from three-point range and couldn't get to the line as often as Montana. The Vikings were 9-15 from the charity stripe and the Griz were 16-26.
 
The game was a matchup of the top two scoring defenses in the Big Sky Conference, and it played out that way. The first half was a grind-it-out, half-court battle.
 
Portland State grabbed the lead right away and never trailed in the first half going up 28-26 at the break. Montana tied the game briefly at 14 and 23, but otherwise had a poor shooting half at 8-26 from the field (.308). PSU made 13-25 (.520) from the field. The difference was Montana getting to the line for 7-10 compared to 1-2 for the Vikings.
 
PSU built its largest lead at 37-30 at the 16:40 mark of the second half but the Grizzlies inched back into the game. Over the next six minutes they hit four three-pointers and finally tied the game at 46 with 10:13 to play.
 
Montana took its first lead, 51-49, on a three-point shot by Josh Bannan at the 7:33 mark. On the Griz' next possession Robby Beasley was fouled on a three-pointer and made all three free throws. After trailing for most of 32 minutes, Montana suddenly led 54-49.
 
Portland State answered with a tip-in from Jean-Marie, then a Squire driving score and free throw to tie it back up at 54-54. The lead then changed hands four times in the final three minutes. 
 
Bannan led the Griz with 22 points. Beasley scored 18 points and Cameron Parker had 13 points. 
 
PSU dropped to 4-10 on the season, 2-4 in the Big Sky with the loss. Montana improved to 12-6, 5-2 in the Big Sky. 
 
"We battled the whole night, led for a long time, did a really good job of attacking the paint. This was a tough one to take. We played really hard, but Montana did too and they are a really good team," said Coburn.
 
"After every loss we have responded and come back and played really hard. I know we will on Saturday night against a very good Montana State team."
 

GAME NOTES

• Khalid Thomas scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the game.
• Michael Carter III had 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
• Portland State hosts Montana State on Saturday night at Viking Pavilion. The game tips at 7 p.m. and streams live on ESPN+.