PORTLAND, Ore. - Coaches claim that a split on the road during conference season is an OK weekend.
But UND may not totally agree with that after coming close to pulling off a Big Sky Conference road sweep Saturday night.
But Portland State managed to rally from a seven-point halftime deficit to beat UND 70-68 at the Stott Center. UND dropped to 6-4 in the league and 9-11 overall. North Dakota’s four-game win streak was also snapped.
Portland State improved to 6-4 and 11-8.
Portland State senior Gary Winston scored 15 of his team-high 19 points in the second half as the Vikings rallied for the win.
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Winston went 7-for-8 from the floor and hit a trio of big second-half 3-pointers to vault his team to its fourth straight win.
Despite trailing by seven at the break, the Vikings forged an eight-point advantage in the second half as they knocked down 67 percent of their shots from the floor in the final half.
UND cut that deficit to one point late in the game and nearly pulled off the sweep at the buzzer.
However, Aaron Anderson’s shot roughly five feet beyond the arc at the final horn came up short.
UND’s Troy Huff led all scorers with 20 points. Jamal Webb helped fuel UND’s second-half offense with 11 points.
The Vikings shot 61 percent from the floor and that helped overcome 19 turnovers.
UND also had trouble taking care of the basketball, turning it over 18 times. The Green and White managed to shoot just 46.4 percent from the floor and went 8-for-19 from beyond the arc.
Portland State had its largest lead of the first half at 15-10, but Quinton Hooker pushed UND back into the lead after scoring 11 points during a 13-4 run over a two-minute stretch. He knocked down a trio of 3-pointers during that spurt, which saw UND take a 23-19 lead.
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UND would continue its strong play late in the half, extending its advantage to 34-27 at the break. However, the Vikings posted their own 13-4 run to start the half. That allowed PSU to regain the lead at 40-36 in the opening three minutes of play.
Hooker finished with 11 points as he was held scoreless after the break. Huff helped UND hold a 29-23 advantage on the glass with a game-high seven rebounds.
UND will remain on the road for two more Big Sky games next week starting at Weber State on Thursday.
