Daily Vanguard

December 13th, 2007

Shorthanded Vikings capture win

Returning to the Stott Center for the first time in over two weeks, the Vikings took to the court against Cal Poly without their starting point guard, junior Jeremiah Dominguez, Wednesday night.

Despite the absence of a vital cog in Dominguez, who leads Portland State in scoring, assists, and three pointers, the Vikings toughed out a 74-66 victory over the Mustangs.

Dominguez was ruled academically ineligible late Wednesday afternoon following the release of Fall term grades. With Dominguez out of the lineup, the starting point guard duties were handed to junior Mickey Polis.

Cal-Poly (4-5) pressured Polis and the Vikings baseline to baseline for most of the first half, forcing 11 turnovers and keeping Portland State (7-4) from establishing any offensive continuity.

In spite of the Mustangs’ ball-hawking efforts, Portland State stayed close by connecting on 9-14 three-point field goals, though the Vikings only shot 13-33 overall and trailed 36-37 at the midway point.

“Their press was good enough to keep us lethargic and out of our offense. But we kept at it and did alright in the quarter court,” said head coach Ken Bone.

Although the Vikings struggled to penetrate the Cal Poly defense for much of the game, Portland State’s hot shooting from the outside opened up the entire court in the second half. This allowed Portland State to take control in the second 20 minutes.

Polis jumpstarted the offense right out of the gates, draining his second three-pointer just eight seconds into the second half. This jumper gave the Vikings their first lead since being up 3-2 early in the contest, and Portland State did not trail the rest of the way.

Portland State ended up shooting 13-24 from three point range for the game, but it was the Vikings 24 second-half points in the paint and 21 free-throw attempts that made the difference in this one. Those factors combined with Cal-Poly going cold from the outside—making just 1-10 three point field goals in the second half—gave the Vikings the victory.

Polis led the Vikings with 15 points and three assists. Senior center Scott Morrison had a solid game, contributing 12 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Andre Murray added 10 points, as did senior guard Dupree Lucas, who also led the team with four assists.

According to press releases for the Portland State athletic department, no time frame has been announced for Dominguez’s return to the lineup.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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