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OGDEN — In keeping with their previous standards from earlier in the season, Weber State and Portland State produced another thrilling matchup Thursday, though less so from the perspective of the home team.
After leading 62-50 with 9:15 remaining, Weber went cold late in the second half of Thursday’s game, as they were outscored 26-13 by PSU down the stretch to fall in heartbreaking fashion, 76-75 at the Dee Events Center. The loss is Weber’s second-straight and third overall in the Big Sky.
Asked for his thoughts following the game, an irked Randy Rahe questioned his team’s energy and aggressiveness.
“I didn’t think we respected the game with our approach to the game tonight,” Rahe said. “I didn’t think we were as aggressive as we had been. … We did not have the energy to match their energy and the aggressiveness to match their aggressiveness.
“We didn’t have that same juice, that same pop, that we’ve been having throughout a lot of the game,” he added. “And so when you don’t have it, and they pick it up — because they got urgent — and you don’t match it, then they make a run on you and it’s hard to stop.”
Still, Weber (13-8, 7-3) had their chances to win late. After Holland Woods’ layup gave PSU (9-11, 4-5) a 71-69 lead, the team’s first since going up 1-0 early in the game, Jerrick Harding was fouled on a slicing layup and converted the ensuing and-one, and Weber was back on top 72-71 with two minutes remaining.
But following two empty Weber possessions, PSU retook the lead when Woods drove and dished to a wide-open Deante Strickland, who loaded and rose from the top-of-the-circle for the dagger triple that put the Vikings ahead 74-72 with 24 seconds remaining.
From there, Harding had a chance to tie game as he isolated, drove the paint and pushed a leaning floater toward the basket, though it ultimately careened off the glass and rim before falling into the arms of PSU’s Derek Brown.
Brown was subsequently fouled with 3.9 seconds remaining, and in the final waning moments, knocked in both free throws to give the Vikings a 4-point lead. Harding’s ensuing, albeit pointless, 3-pointer provided the final margin.
Asked for his thoughts on Harding’s potential tying shot, Rahe said: “We wanted to put the ball in Jerrick’s hands, we wanted to get the guys out of the way. … I thought he got a decent look. We’ll put in our best players hands as much as we can."
Four players finished in double-figures for Weber State, led by Harding, who had 28 points on 11-18 shooting in addition to five rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes of action. Elsewhere, Brekkott Chapman added 10 points, seven rebounds and six blocks, while Zach Braxton and Israel Barnes supplied 15 and 10 points, respectively.
The Vikings were led by combo-forward Jamie Orme, who scored 18. Woods had 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists, and Brown added 12 points for Portland State.
As has often been the case this season, the Wildcats got off to a lackluster start on Thursday, converting just one of its six three-points attempts while being outrebounded 24-13 in the first 20 minutes—including 12-2 on the offensive glass. That disparity led to the Vikings attempting 35 shots in the first half, to Weber’s 25, an advantage that kept PSU in the game early.
“They send a lot of guys to the glass,” Braxton said. “We talked about it all week leading up to this, ‘We gotta box out the guards, they killed us last time. We gotta box out the bigs, they killed us last time on the glass.’ … We talked about it and talked about it and then didn’t get it done tonight.”
Still, Weber was in control early. After Michael Nuga’s layup brought PSU within 23-22 with 5:55 left in the first half, the Wildcats quickly widened the gap as Braxton’s dunk, Harding’s floater and Barnes’ free-throws made it 29-23 less than a minute later.
Then, sandwiched around Woods’ free-throws and Sal Nuhu’s dunk, the lead swelled to 10, 36-26, when Harding knocked down a jumper, Barnes banged in a triple and Chapman cleaned up Cody John’s missed three-pointer.
But even then, PSU stayed in striking distance. The Vikings closed the first half on a 10-5 run, spearheaded by eight points-in-the-paint, and Weber carried a narrow 41-36 lead at the intermission.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 12 in the second half, with the help of a 21-14 start. But the Vikings killed that run with some deft finishes from Orme, Woods and Brown, who combined for 25 points in the second half—with PSU needing every single one.
“They got down, they got aggressive. And we didn’t match that aggressiveness,” Rahe said. Follow Dillon on Twitter @dillondanderson.
