Huskies edge Portland State

by John Berkowitz on Dec 14, 2008 8:14 PM PST

Washington, playing without leading scorer Jon Brockman, used a balanced attack led by Matthew Bryan-Amaning to hold off a late charge by Portland State for an 84-83 victory on Sunday.

Bryan-Amaning led the Huskies (6-3) with career highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds. Quincy Pondexter added 21 points, Justin Dentmon had 20 and Isaiah Thomas scored 16.

Pondexter made a critical tip-in with 26 seconds left to thwart the Vikings (7-2) down the stretch.

Dominic Waters led Portland State with 19 points. Jeremiah Dominguez had 16.

Brockman, a senior forward who leads the team in scoring average at 16.8 points and rebounding at 11.4, sprained his right ankle during Saturday's practice and was unable to play.

Breaking from a 9-point lead at halftime, the Huskies marched to a 15-point lead, 61-46, with 16:50 remaining. For the next 10 minutes the Vikings could not get any closer than nine points.

But with under five minutes left, the Vikings went on a 16-1 run to close to 79-77 with 1:54 left. Former Husky Phil Nelson hit a pair of crucial 3-pointers during the run.

It was 79-78 inside of 30 seconds left when Thomas put up a hurried shot. It bounced off the back rim where Pondexter was waiting to tip it in for a 81-78 lead.

With the Huskies leading 82-80 with five seconds left, Dentmon sealed the game with a pair of free throws. Waters made a desperate 3-pointer at the buzzer to finish it.

The Vikings had led just briefly at 5-4, then stayed close until midway in the first half. The Huskies were leading 16-15 when they went on an 11-0 run for a 29-15 lead with 8:50 left.

Dominguez then hit three 3-pointers within 90 seconds for the Vikings, to close the gap to 38-28.

With 5:09 left in the half, Husky guard Venoy Overton committed a technical foul for complaining about a non-call. Waters, the Vikings' leading scorer who was scoreless at the time, made two free throws to begin his own scoring run.

He scored his team's next nine points to bring Portland State back to a 3-point deficit, 40-37, with 3:32 left.

But the Huskies closed out the half with an 8-2 run to hold a 48-39 edge at intermission

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Huskies

Domniguez was fun to watch tonight. It was also interesting to watch the players play without Brockman….A glimpse of what they might look like next year,

by huskyslut on Dec 14, 2008 9:10 PM PST reply actions

Scary Kent

They look like a last place team in the Pac Ten without Brockman.

by John Berkowitz on Dec 14, 2008 9:14 PM PST reply actions

I thought that Portland State is good...

I didnt watch the game, but winning without your top player is a good sign. They let the big lead dwindle which may not have happened with Brockman in the post, but all in all it sounds like a decent effort.

Again, correct me if i am wrong because i didnt watch the game, just going off your analysis JohnB.

by bigdave967 on Dec 15, 2008 5:56 AM PST up reply actions