GREELEY, Colo.—Charles Odum scored 22 points and Lateef McMullan added a career-high 20 as Portland State won its first road game of the season by beating Northern Colorado 86-75 on Thursday night.
The Vikings were 0-8 on the road this year, last winning at Seattle in their final game of the 2010-11 season. They had gone nine Big Sky Conference road games without a win since a Jan. 2, 2011, victory at Idaho State.
Michael Harthun had 18 points for Portland State (8-9, 2-3 Big Sky). The Vikings made 62 percent of their 3-point tries and shot 62 percent from the field overall.
Mike Proctor and Connor Osborne had 16 points each for Northern Colorado (5-10, 2-2). Elliott Lloyd scored 13.
Lloyd helped the Bears stay within striking distance in the second half, making a 3-pointer to close the gap to 52-44 and a second shot behind the arc made it 62-55 with 11:59 left. But Northern Colorado was held scoreless on its next three possessions, and Odum’s reverse layup and a Harthum 3-pointer pushed Portland State’s lead to 69-56 with 9:55 to go.
Northern Colorado was within 78-72 on Proctor’s layup with 2:19 left. Odum made two free throws and McMullan had a layup as Portland State pulled away in the last two minutes.
Portland State shot a sizzling 73 percent overall and made 9 of 12 3-pointers in the first half.
The Vikings made 9 of 10 shots, including four 3-pointers, to lead 22-13. But they cooled off, and Lloyd’s layup off a backdoor pass from Osborne got the Bears within 25-21.
But the Vikings regrouped, making nine of their next 12 shots to give them a 47-32 advantage. Paul Garnica beat the first-half buzzer with a 60-foot shot for Northern Colorado to make it 49-36 at the break.
