Portland State 78, Rice 74: Dominguez's clinching shot lifts Vikings in opener
by Keith Cordero Jr., Special to The Oregonian Saturday November 15, 2008, 4:07 PM
HOUSTON -- Senior point guard Jeremiah Dominguez scored 24 points, including a key late three-pointer, to lift Portland State to a season-opening 78-74 victory at Rice on Saturday.
"We needed a big bucket at the end to seal the win," last season's Big Sky Conference MVP said of his shot that gave the Vikings a 76-70 lead.
Coming off a season in which it finished 23-10, including 14-2 in the Big Sky, and earned its first NCAA Tournament berth, Portland State (1-0) spoiled Rice's home opener in the remodeled Tudor Fieldhouse by outscoring the Owls 45-38 in the second half.
"You always want to start the year off on the right note," Vikings coach Ken Bone said, "so being able to come in here and play a team the caliber of Rice, I'm extremely happy with our guys and the ability to pull out the win."
After falling behind early, the Vikings made an 11-1 run to close within 18-17 with about nine minutes left in the first half. PSU soon took its first lead when junior forward Jamie Jones sank two free throws to put the Vikings up 25-23.
"Once we got the ball moving, we got good shots and people were knocking them down," Dominguez said.
Rice (0-1) answered with a run of its own, junior guard Cory Pflieger hitting back-to-back three-pointers to put the Owls up 30-27.
Rice ended the first half on a 13-8 run for a 36-33 lead.
Limited to seven points in the first half, Dominguez took charge to open the second half, scoring 10 quick points to put the Vikings up 53-51.
Consecutive three-pointers by sophomore forward Phil Nelson and junior guard Dominic Waters gave PSU a 65-57 lead with 8:47 left.
The Vikings pushed the lead to double digits, 73-63, when Dominguez found Jones for an easy layup with 3:12 left.
Rice answered with five quick points, capped by sophomore forward Trey Stanton's layup and free throw with 2:09 left, to make it 73-68.
A little more than a minute later, with the Owls within three points, Dominguez hit the big three-pointer with 1:01 left to seal the win.
A key to the game: The Vikings had a 17-5 advantage in offensive rebounds and scored 26 second-chance points off those. Rice, on the other hand, managed just nine such points.
"Were the Big Sky champs the last two years in a row -- as far as rebounding -- and we take a lot of pride in that," said Bone, whose team outrebounded the Owls 38-27.
In addition to Dominguez's 24 points and four assists in 38 minutes, Jones had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Waters added 18 points.
Pflieger led the Owls with 17 points.
"We needed a big bucket at the end to seal the win," last season's Big Sky Conference MVP said of his shot that gave the Vikings a 76-70 lead.
Coming off a season in which it finished 23-10, including 14-2 in the Big Sky, and earned its first NCAA Tournament berth, Portland State (1-0) spoiled Rice's home opener in the remodeled Tudor Fieldhouse by outscoring the Owls 45-38 in the second half.
"You always want to start the year off on the right note," Vikings coach Ken Bone said, "so being able to come in here and play a team the caliber of Rice, I'm extremely happy with our guys and the ability to pull out the win."
After falling behind early, the Vikings made an 11-1 run to close within 18-17 with about nine minutes left in the first half. PSU soon took its first lead when junior forward Jamie Jones sank two free throws to put the Vikings up 25-23.
"Once we got the ball moving, we got good shots and people were knocking them down," Dominguez said.
Rice (0-1) answered with a run of its own, junior guard Cory Pflieger hitting back-to-back three-pointers to put the Owls up 30-27.
Rice ended the first half on a 13-8 run for a 36-33 lead.
Limited to seven points in the first half, Dominguez took charge to open the second half, scoring 10 quick points to put the Vikings up 53-51.
Consecutive three-pointers by sophomore forward Phil Nelson and junior guard Dominic Waters gave PSU a 65-57 lead with 8:47 left.
The Vikings pushed the lead to double digits, 73-63, when Dominguez found Jones for an easy layup with 3:12 left.
Rice answered with five quick points, capped by sophomore forward Trey Stanton's layup and free throw with 2:09 left, to make it 73-68.
A little more than a minute later, with the Owls within three points, Dominguez hit the big three-pointer with 1:01 left to seal the win.
A key to the game: The Vikings had a 17-5 advantage in offensive rebounds and scored 26 second-chance points off those. Rice, on the other hand, managed just nine such points.
"Were the Big Sky champs the last two years in a row -- as far as rebounding -- and we take a lot of pride in that," said Bone, whose team outrebounded the Owls 38-27.
In addition to Dominguez's 24 points and four assists in 38 minutes, Jones had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Waters added 18 points.
Pflieger led the Owls with 17 points.
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