Conference Champs!
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Bozeman, MT - With the final prize of the Big Sky Conference season set before them, the Portland State Vikings wasted little time in taking control of, and defeating, the Montana State Bobcats at Worthington Arena. Behind a school-record shooting performance, the Vikings claimed the outright Big Sky regular season championship and the right to host the Big Sky Tournament with a 96-68 win over the Bobcats.
Entering Thursday’s game, the Vikings had already clinched a tie for the conference title. With Thursday’s win, Portland State is now set to host the league tourney at the Rose Garden, Mar. 11-12.
The win extended the Vikings’ Big Sky winning streak to 10 and raised their season record to 19-9. That matches the highest win total in school history as a Division I program (PSU was 19-9 in 2004-05 and 19-13 in 2006-07). The Vikings are 12-2 in the Big Sky Conference with two games to play.
Portland State converted 35-50 shots from the field for a school-record .700 shooting mark. PSU also made 11-17 three-point field goals for a season-high .647 percentage.
The Vikings never trailed in the game, building a 32-15 lead by the seven minute mark of the first half. It came behind the strong start of Jeremiah Dominguez, who scored 11 points in the first 13 minutes, hitting his first four shots. By halftime, Dominguez had 19 points, including five three-point field goals.
The Vikings led 46-32 at intermission. PSU shot 18-26 from the field (69%), and 7-11 from three-point range (64%).
The Bobcats pulled within 11 in the opening seconds of the second half, but the Vikings soon turned the game into a rout, leading by as many as 29 late in the game.
Dominguez played one of his best games of the year, scoring a game-high 26 points on 8-11 from the field, 5-6 from three-point range and 5-7 at the line. He added four assists and two steals.
Andre Murray and Deonte Huff each had 15 points and four assists for the Vikings. They combined to make 12-16 shots from the field. Scott Morrison added 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
The Vikings held Montana State to .381 shooting and outrebounded the Bobcats, 33-29.
“The (team) did an outstanding job right from the tip. We went out and just got after it from the start,” said Head Coach Ken Bone.
Montana State (15-13, 7-
was led by the 19 points and five rebounds of Mecklen Davis.
Big Sky Tournament two-day passes are already on sale for $40 each at the Portland State ticket office. Details can be found by clicking on the link above.
GAME NOTES: PSU has scored 96 points in each of the last three games against Montana State, all wins... the Vikings’ 12 Big Sky wins in a season is a school record... PSU’s win in Bozeman broke a streak of the home team winning six straight times in the series... it was just PSU’s second win in 12 trips to Montana State, but the Vikings have now won seven of nine in the series... Portland State plays at Montana on Saturday at 6 p.m. PT... the regular season wraps up next Tuesday at the Stott Center when PSU hosts Eastern Washington at 7:05 p.m.