PSU headed to the Dance again, 79-77

Written by: Tom Sedun, Vanguard staff

The Portland State Vikings are headed to the NCAA tournament again after defeating Montana State in a wire to wire 79-77 victory over Montana State in front of 1546 at the Dee Event Center in Ogden, Utah.

“We beat an impressive team in Montana State, said head coach Ken Bone who has now led the Vikings to its second NCAA tournament in school history. “This victory is a tribute to our team.”

Senior captain Jeremiah Dominguez led all scorers with 22 points and was named the Big Sky tournament Most Valuable Player. Divaldo Mbunga led the Bobcats with 20 points and ten rebounds.

“It’s a great feeling after working so hard,” Dominguez said. “We had some struggles in the middle of the season, but we were able to come out and win the championship.”

“Jeremiah put us on his back,” said junior forward Julius Thomas who scored 17, including the game winning slam from Dominic Waters with five seconds remaining.”He is the leader of this team.”

The first half was nip and tuck with both teams exchanging baskets en route to a 40-39 halftime lead for the Vikings. Kyle Coston provided much of the energy for the high scoring half for Portland State with seven points.

“Kyle came out with tremendous confidence,” said Bone. “He was a definite presence on the defensive end.”

In the second half with the game tied at 50 and Montana State being the early aggressors, Dominguez ignited his team to a 11-1 run giving Portland State a ten-point advantage with 12:25 to play.

“I didn’t want to go out like that,” Dominguez said. “I got a feeling in my stomach and sometimes you feel confident in yourself; luckily I hit some big shots and made some plays down the stretch.”

Montana State had a chance to force overtime or win the game outright with 2.5 seconds remaining. But junior guard Dominic Waters stripped Brendan Johnson in the middle of his game winning shot attempt.

“They (Montana State) threw it to Howard and Dom’ (Waters) guarded him well,” Bone said.
Now the Vikings wait for selection Sunday to see who and where they will play their first round game.

“Last year was exciting to get to the tournament, this year we’re excited to be going again, but lets try to build from last year’s experience and go win a game.

Vikings look to be pulling away: lead 71-62

If your dancing shoes got a little dusty over the past 12 months, you better shine them up because it looks like the Vikings are pulling away from Montana State. A win, of course, would earn the club their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Men’s Basketball Preview: Big Sky Championship Edition

What: Portland State (22-9, 12-5 BSC) vs. Montana State (14-16, 7-10)
Where: Dee Events Center, Ogden, Utah
When: 7:30 p.m., Tonight
On the air: 800 AM KPDQ (audio, Tom Hewitt play-by-play), ESPN2 (Comcast channel 36)

Stars: Montana State has had an inconsistent year thus far, but when the Bobcats have played well it has been based heavily on the inside presence of senior All Big Sky center Divaldo Mbunga.

Mbunga, the Zach Randolph lookalike, is a force on the glass and on defense. In their win over Weber State he had 11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 1 steal.

The Montana State backcourt tandem of Marquis Navarre and Will Bynum form a strong duo of players capable of running the offense and scoring. Combined, they average 15 points per game but have been effective in hounding opposing ball handlers with their quickness.

In addition to those three stars, Junior Branden Johnson was the player of the game for Montana State in their semifinal victory. The southpaw shooter hit four of his six threes en route to a team high 16 points.

Portland State will need a strong game from at least two of their perimeter players. In their semifinal victory over Idaho State, it was junior Dominic Waters who sparked the team in the first half and senior guard Andre Murray who brought the team to life in a stagnant second half.

A key matchup should be Johnson and Portland State junior forward Kyle Coston. Both players like to roam outside the three point line and three’s by either will help either team establish the spacing and tempo that both of these teams will want to play at.

Just a taste: An unlikely pairing, the two squads will meet for the third time this season, but this time a Big Sky Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament will be on the line.

Montana State has bulldozed through two of the top three seeds in the conference, all on the road, and will have an opportunity to knock off the Vikings and earn the school’s third ever trip to the Big Dance.

Portland State is making their second consecutive trip to the championship game and will have to give a more consistent effort should they earn a subsequent berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The Vikings have struggled with consistency within games this season and only played well during the first half of their 61-53 semifinal victory over the Bengals.

The two teams split their matchups this season, with Montana State eking out a narrow three point victory in Bozeman and Portland State picking up a six point win at the Stott Center.

With host Weber State dropping their semifinal yesterday and nearby Idaho State also stumbling, the Big Sky Championship will likely be played in front of just a few hundred fans as neither Montana State nor Portland State looked well supported in their semifinal.

This will be the second time this season that the Vikings have appeared in a ESPN game. Portland State defeated Boise Stat on Feb. 21 in the other game.

The two squads met last in the Big Sky Tournament in 2007, when Portland State defeated the Bobcats, 96-71 in a quarterfinal game played at the Stott Center.

Favorites shocked: Weber State falls in a stunner to No. 6 seed Montana State

In a game that not a soul was bold enough to predict, Montana State defeated Weber State in the Big Sky Tournament Semifinals, 70-61.

The win advances Montana State, an unlikely participant, to the Big Sky Championship where they will face the No. 2 seeded Portland State in the championship game tomorrow evening. At stake will be a spot in the NCAA Tournament, the first for Montana State since 1996.

The Bobcats trounced the host Wildcats, who they had fallen to by 20 points just one week ago, behind a terrific defensive performance and sharpshooting from the perimeter.

Weber State managed to hit just four of their 26 three-point attempts while Montana State shot an efficient 40 percent from beyond the arc. The Wildcats shot just 33 percent from the field for the game and had just eight team assists.

“They played really hard,” Kellen McCoy, Weber State’s senior guard said. “We just didn’t hit our shots and they came in with a lot of heart. Everything changed from two weeks ago.”

The loss left the 5,162 in attendance devastated, and the host Wildcats wondering what went wrong.

Montana State, who barely snuck into the Big Sky Tournament, upset rival Montana in a road game last Saturday to earn their ticket to Ogden.

On Tuesday night, they made believers out of the rest of the conference by handing Weber State just their second loss of the conference season.

“Our guys persevered through a lot this season,” said Montana State head coach Brad Huse. “This win is exciting for our program, exciting for our university.”

The Big Sky MVP, McCoy, had an off-night and was hounded by defensive pressure from Marquis Navarre and Will Bynum. McCoy finished with just 16 points but struggled from the perimeter and hit just four of 10 field goal attempts. He also had six turnovers.

Navarre and Bynum had 17 total points and joined Branden Johnson, Erik Rush and Divaldo Mbunga in holding off a furious Weber State rally in the waning moments.

The Weber State freshman combination of Damian Lillard and Kyle Bullinger that spurned Big Sky opponents during the regular season was held in check for the majority of the game. They combined for just 10 total points.

Momentum may have swung as early as the final moments of the first half when a Bynum steal led to a thunderous transition dunk over Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, Weber State forward Daviin Davis.

Bynum’s play and the subsequent technical foul he earned for jawing with Davis infuriated the crowd but ignited a strong run by the Bobcats to close the half.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Weber State will continue their season in the NIT. Due to the defeat, the Wildcats will claim the conference’s automatic bid to the tournament and could possibly host a first-round game next week.

Montana State will move on to keep their streaking run through the Big Sky Tournament with a chance to take their lackluster 13-16 record to the NCAA Tournament with a victory over Portland State tomorrow night.

Vikings Stumble into Big Sky Championship

Written by: Tom Sedun, Vanguard staff

Ogden, Utah- For the second consecutive season, the Portland State Vikings have reached the Big Sky conference tournament championship game. And for the second consecutive year they reached the conference championship by defeating Idaho State.

The Vikings were able to pull out a 61-53 victory in front of 2779 at the Dee Events Center on the campus of Weber State.

The road back to the final did not come easy for the Vikings who let Idaho State rally from a 19-point halftime deficit.

“Well it wasn’t the prettiest of games but we are glad that we were able to win,” said Portland State head coach Ken Bone. “It feels great to be back in the championship game. It’s something we have been striving for all season long.”

Andre Murray led all scorers with 24 points and scored 13 of Portland State’s 19 points in the second half. “They were beating us in transition,” Murray said. “I felt I needed to score the ball for us.”

Portland State went on a 22-2 run in the first half to give the defending Big Sky champions a 42-23 halftime advantage, Phil Nelson scored 12 of his 14 in the first half.

But much like their earlier meeting in Pocatello, the Bengals opened the second half with an 18-3 run and had all the momentum late in the ball game.

“I told the guys that this game was just like that one. Idaho State is a very good team and could have very well been in the championship game,” Bone said.

With the Bengals only trailing the Vikings by three with Jeremiah Dominguez sealed the Portland State victory by hitting three free throws, all in the final minute.

“It’s great we are back in the championship game,” said the first team all Big Sky guard. “But we need to play focused for forty minutes in order to win tomorrow.”

Even though the game was not the finest performance from the Vikings, the victory was satisfying enough, at least for one night.

“A win is a win,” said Andre Murray. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a blowout or by one point, I’ll take it.”

Marnix, our student blogger predicts the conference tourney'

Marnix, our student blogger predicts the conference tourneys...sort of

By now, most of you will have familiarized yourselves with our student and unabashed Viking fan, Marnix Brinkhoff.

He took a few days off but Marnix is back with a guest post about how he feels the men's and women's basketball teams will do in the Big Sky Tournament's this weekend.

With March Madness around the corner that can mean only one thing: Conference Tournaments!

With the Men’s Big Sky Tournament kicking off tomorrow and the women’s later this week here are my predictions for both Tournaments this week.

Men’s Semifinals:

Portland State vs. Idaho State: I predict PSU wins this match-up, because the team is rested and hopefully pumped for the opportunity to play again on television with an opportunity to defend their Big Sky Conference Crown.

Weber State vs. Montana State: Even though MSU is the only team to beat Weber State in conference this year, the Wildcats are no joke and come to play every night.

Men’s Final:Weber State v. Portland State.

I believe the Vikings will show up to this one, but with the poise and leadership the Wildcats have, I’m going to have to give the edge to Weber State.

It pains me to say such a thing and I’ve never wanted to be proved wrong more, but I believe the Wildcats are going to win, because they are consistent, have worked hard and gotten better all year.

Even though the bright lights of ESPN will be shining again, I just don’t see the lethargic Vikings being able to pull off what I would classify as a huge upset.

Women’s Semifinals:

Screw it, lets just get straight to the inevitable finale: Portland State and Montana.


Portland State vs. Montana: The clash of the two titans in Big Sky women’s basketball should be quite the match-up.

Last Saturday’s game would have been quite the match-up too, but Comcast is too sexist to cover the game I guess, but I digress.

My prediction for next week’s match-up is that the Vikings pull off the victory and gain a berth to the NCAA tournament, because Kelsey Kahle and Claire Faucher are just too big of competitors to let another “W” slip through their grasp.

Besides, I’m still a Viking fan and I still hate Montana so there is no way I can predict them to win.

Well, those are my predictions. You can like them or you can hate them. I may be wrong or I may be right, but either way be sure to tune in and cheer the Vikings on!