Anchorage Daily News

A semifinal game that had the look of a Shootout classic ended with a thud Friday night.

Click to enlarge

Story tools

Comments (0)

E-mail a friend

Print

Share on Facebook

Digg this

Seed Newsvine

Send link via AIM

Follow on Twitter

Font size : A | A | A

Portland State rallied from an eight-point deficit with less than a minute left in regulation to force overtime and give the estimated 4,000 at Sullivan Arena a reason to cheer.

But down the stretch, Hampton University's tough defense and Portland's cold shooting helped the Pirates sneak into tonight's Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout championship game with a 77-71 overtime victory.

An ugly ending was Hampton's plan all along.

"We felt if we could keep Portland under 70 (points) and make it an ugly, scrappy game, we could win," Hampton coach Kevin Nickelberry said.

Hampton (3-2) lived off its suffocating defense and gave the defending Big Sky Conference champions their first loss of the season by taking defending Big Sky player of the year Jeremiah Dominguez out of the game.

Dominguez scored just three points on 1-of-7 shooting and sat most of the second half with an injured finger. But Dominguez wasn't Portland's biggest issue -- the Vikings' bench was outscored 42-12.

"We stop people," Nickelberry said. "That's what we do."

In five games, Hampton has given up 63.2 points a game. But the Pirates have only scored 63.0 points a game themselves.

So Nickelberry was pleased with the production of 6-foot-8 forward Michael Freeman (17 points, four blocks), freshman Christopher Tolson (16 points off the bench) and the scrappy Jordan Brooks (four steals).

Hampton's media guide lists Brooks as 5-foot-9. But Nickelberry admitted that's a stretch.

"If he's 5-9, then I'm 6-5," Nickelberry smiled. "He's really 5-6."

Had the Pirates sank more free throws in the closing minutes of regulation (11 for 20 in the last two minutes) and kept Portland off the foul line (7 for 8 free throw shooting in OT), Nickelberry's smile may have lasted longer after the game.

But this is the Shootout, a holiday tournament Nickelberry said Hampton has wanted to play in for years. So any victory would do.

"That was a tough team," he said. "I thought it would never end."

Neither did Portland coach Ken Bone, whose team lost steam as its coach lost patience in the second half. The Vikings built an eight-point halftime lead thanks to a 14-0 run that started midway through the first half.

But after the intermission, a much different Portland squad took the floor.

The Vikings started out shooting 1 for 6 with five turnovers. Bone was so frustrated, he benched his starting five at 18:22.

"They exploited us," Bone said.

The starters re-entered five minutes later and Phil Nelson eventually got the offense rolling again. The sophomore scored 12 points in the final 5:28, including two clutch 3-pointers in the final 27 seconds, as Portland clawed back from an 11-point deficit.

The Vikings forced overtime thanks to Hampton's free-throw shooting (5 of 8) in the final 45 seconds. Freeman clanked two in a row with 18 seconds to go, giving Portland one last chance to tie.

Portland's Kyle Coston drew a foul in the paint and sank 1 of 2 free throws with 6.3 left to force overtime and put the crowd on its feet.

But in overtime, Portland made just 11 percent (1 of 9) of its shots, while Hampton nailed 50 percent (4 of 8).

"It wasn't the prettiest game," Bone said. "But at least it was interesting."

Find Daily News sports reporter Kevin Klott at adn.com/sports/kklott or 257-4335.

Hampton24 38 15 -- 77

Portland State32 30 9 -- 71

HAMPTON -- Freeman, 5-8 7-12 17; Tolson, 7-13 1-2 16; Morgan 3-5 3-4 11; Harrison 4-8 0-0 8; Simpson 4-5 0-0 8; Brooks 0-5 7-10 7; DeGroat 2-3 2-2 6; Ntoko 1-2 0-0 3; Tunnell 0-1 1-2 1; Lola-Charles 0-0 0-0 0; Smalling 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 21-32 77.

PORTLAND STATE -- Nelson 6-14 8-9 24; Murray 4-13 4-4 14; Coston 4-11 1-3 10; Waters 4-7 0-0 10; Jones 4-7 0-0 8; Dominguez 1-7 0-0 3; Wright 1-3 0-0 2; Mara 0-1 0-0 0; Polis 0-2 0-0 0; Thomas 0-5 0-2 0. Totals 24-70 13-18 71.

3-point goals -- Hampton 4-10 (Morgan 2-2; Tolson 1-4; Ntoko 1-1; Brooks 0-2; Simpson 0-1), Portland State 10-35 (Nelson 4-9; Waters 2-5; Murray 2-6; Dominguez 1-6; Coston 1-6; Mara 0-1; Polis 0-1;Wright 0-1). Fouled out -- Hampton-None, Portland State-Waters; Murray. Rebounds -- Hampton 38 (Harrison 6), Portland State 36 (Thomas 8). Assists -- Hampton 18 (Brooks 8), Portland State 16 (Nelson 3; Waters 3; Murray 3). Total fouls -- Hampton 15, Portland State 23. Technical fouls -- Hampton-None, Portland State-None. A -- 5556.

ADVERTISEMENT