Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Big Sky Tournament: Vikings, Fighting Hawks, Hornets, Eagles Advance To Quarterfinals

At Reno, Nevada:

The Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament commenced on Tuesday with four games played at the Reno Events Center.

In the opener, Cameron Forte scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while De'Sean Parsons added a career-high 21 points as the eighth-seeded Portland State Vikings (13-17) downed the ninth-seeded Northern Colorado Bears (10-21) 74-67.  The Vikings will take on top-seeded Weber State on Thursday in the quarterfinal round at 12:05 PM Pacific Time.

Jordan Wilson paced the Bears with 20 points.

In the second contest, Quinton Hooker scored 26 of his 30 points in the second half as the fifth-seeded North Dakota Fighting Hawks (16-14) held off the 12th-seeded Southern Utah Thunderbirds (5-24) 85-80.  The Fighting Hawks will face fourth-seeded Idaho State in a Thursday quarterfinal at 2:35 PM Pacific Time.

In the third game, Justin Strings nailed four three-point shots en route to a 25-point performance that helped the tenth-seeded Sacramento State Hornets (14-16) knock off the #7-seeded Montana State Bobcats (17-17) 79-75. The Hornets will face second-seeded Montana in a quarterfinal match on Thursday in Reno at 5:35 PM Pacific Time.

In the finale, Austin McBroom scored 16 points while Venky Jois added 14 (to go with his 11 rebounds and six assists) as the defending tournament champs Eastern Washington (17-14) dominated the 11th-seeded Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (5-25) 74-52 as the sixth seeded Eagles ended a four-game skid.   EWU will battle third-seeded Idaho on Thursday at 8:05 PM Pacific Time, in the quarterfinal round.

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