Portland State University Athletics

SEATTLE, Wash. — Senior guard Trevor Frank hit a three-pointer to give Portland State a 43-41 lead with 13:08 remaining in what was shaping into a dog fight Saturday between two defense-led teams in PSU and Seattle U.
 
Senior forward Jaquay Randolph went 1-for-2 from the line the next time down the floor to put the Vikings up 44-41. But it was all Seattle from there as the Redhawks took control with a 12-0 run and didn't look back en route to a 79-60 victory over the Vikings (1-1) at the Redhawk Center.
 
"I told them in the first half, this thing is a rock fight. Forget about the offensive numbers tonight, this thing is going to come down to defense and that's exactly what happened," Portland State head coach Jase Coburn said afterwards.
 
Defense is what led the Redhawks (1-1) to their game-breaking run. Three PSU turnovers led to five of the Redhawks' first nine points in the run, before Seattle U capped it with a three-pointer from Jaden Bailes with 10:31 remaining. Seattle U's Will Heimbrodt then capped another 8-0 run for the Redhawks a few minutes later with a fast break dunk and a driving layup off a PSU turnover on back-to-back possessions.
 
Seattle U led 61-46 at that point, and the Vikings never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
 
"It's really hard to defend transition when you turn the ball over and it's a live-ball turnover," Coburn said of the run after the game "We've got to understand that we cannot be careless on any single possession. We've got to clean that up."
 
The transition buckets broke open the offense for the Redhawks. The Vikings held them to just 33.3 percent (11-for-33) shooting in the first half. But the Redhawks finished the game making their last 12 shots from the field while shooting 16-for-19 (.842) in the second half.
 
That was always going to be a back breaker against a Seattle U team that returned several key pieces off a team that went 21-14 and made the third round of the NIT last season. Heimbrodt returned for the Redhawks after being named Defensive Player of the Year within the West Coast Conference last season. Sure enough, he tied teammate Mason Williams for the game high with 18 points Saturday against the Vikings.
 
The Vikings don't have the same luxury as they work to incorporate 13 newcomers to this year's team. Two of those newcomers led the team in scoring against the Redhawks as sophomore guard Yaroslav Nikonov and Randolph scored 16 and 10 for the Vikings, respectively. Randolph added 10 rebounds for his first double-double as a Viking after he had 25 in 29 games last season for Southern Wesleyan.
 
Nikonov and Randolph combined for 16 of the Vikings' 28 points in the first half as the Vikings battled the Redhawks to a stalemate through the first 20 minutes. Randolph came off the bench on a heater, recording six points and six rebounds in his first six minutes of action Saturday. Nikonov, meanwhile, scored the Vikings' first five points of the second half to put PSU up 33-30 early in the final period.
 
The teams traded threes a few minutes later with Luke Kearney and Frank hitting for the Vikings around one from Williams for the Redhawks. But the Vikings went cold from there, making just five of their last 16 shots from the field. They finished at 35.1 percent (20-for-57) from the floor for the game.
 
"We've got to figure out the guys who are going to play to our standard here. Our previous teams have set a standard before them. We did that for 30 minutes tonight. But those last 10 are the most important and we've got to play better than we did tonight," Coburn said.
 
Saturday's game against Seattle U opened a tough stretch of four road games against teams picked to finish in the top four of either the West Coast Conference (Seattle U, San Francisco, Saint Mary's) or the Pac-12 Conference (Colorado State). The Vikings face Colorado State next over that four-game road trip, as they head to Fort Collins, Colo., for a game Wednesday (6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT tipoff).
 
"We will fight for 40 minutes," Coburn said in looking ahead to the Vikings' next game. "We have to play Portland State basketball. We have to be our identity. If you don't have an identity, you have nothing. And we will find the right guys to be able to do that."
 
GAME NOTES:

• The Redhawks have now beaten the Vikings in four straight games, including three times over the last five seasons. The Vikings still lead the overall series, 10-9.
• The Redhawks outscored the Vikings 42-28 in the paint and 13-0 in fast break points.

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