Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
at Portland State
Lillard's 38 leads 'Cats to comeback win over Vikings
1/8/2012 5:33:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Damian Lillard scored 38 points and Scott Bamforth added 21 as the Wildcats rallied from a first half deficit for an 88-81 win at Portland State Saturday night. With the victory the Wildcats improve to 4-0 in Big Sky Conference play.
Portland State led by 15 points with 2:28 to play in the first half. That's when Lillard kept the Wildcats in the game as he scored eight points in the final two minutes of the half, including a 40-foot turnaround jumper at the first half buzzer to cut the PSU lead to 51-44 at halftime.
Portland State shot 66 percent from the field in the first half, with the Wildcats shooting 64 percent. Lillard had 23 points in the first half and was 8-12 from the field, including 7-8 from three-point land.
The Vikings jumped out to a nine-point lead at 66-57 with under 13:00 to play in the second half, when the Wildcats went on a 17-5 run over the next six minutes to take a 74-71 lead with 6:00 to play. From there it was a back-and-forth game but the Wildcats were 6-6 from the foul line in the final six minutes to seal the victory.
"It was total toughness by our team tonight," said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. "We hung in and kept fighting and never gave up. Portland State played a terrific game but we just kept fighting and playing tough and found a way to win. We had great leadership for our veteran players."
Lillard played all 40 minutes for the first time in his career and was 12-23 from the field, including 8-14 from three-point land, and was 6-6 from the free throw line for his 38 points. The eight three-pointers is just one off the WSU single-game record. The 38 points is the second-most of his career and marked the fifth time this season he has scored 30 or more points. The junior guard also added five assists and five rebounds. He continues to lead the nation in scoring, now at 26.3 points per game.
Bamforth scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half. He finished the night 5-11 from the field and was 9-10 from the free throw line.
"Portland State played really well but we played really hard in the second half and found a way to win," Bamforth said. "It starts with our defense and we really picked it up defensively in the second half and came together as a team."
For the game Weber State shot 53 percent from the field, with the Vikings shooting 50 percent. PSU outrebounded Weber State 30-28 but the Wildcats had just six turnovers, after 22 in Thursday's win at Eastern Washington.
Senior Darin Mahoney added six points and eight rebounds. Weber State did lose freshman James Hajek who left the game with a knee injury in the first half and did not return.
With the win the 'Cats improve to 12-3 overall and are 4-0 in Big Sky play for the first time since the 2002-03 season when they finished 14-0 in league play.
The Wildcats will now be back home for three-straight games, beginning Thursday when they host Montana State at the Dee Events Center.
