Bears come back to defeat the Vikings on the road

Saturday, January 14

Portland, Ore.

8 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

6-12,1-5Big Sky

Portland State

8-10,2-3Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Portland St.

1/14/2023 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Facing a 14-point deficit and staring at an eighth-straight loss midway through the second half, the Northern Colorado men's basketball team battled back for a 69-67 victory over Portland State on the road Saturday night.

Chipping away at the Vikings' lead, the Bears took the lead off a pair of free throws from Jamel Melvin with 3:20 left in the second. Dalton Knecht scored off a turnover to give UNC a three-point lead, but Portland State hit a three to tie the game back up with two-minutes left.

After multiple games slipping through the Bears' hands, UNC buckled down and made it a two-possession game with in the final two minutes. Daylen Kountz scored on a nifty driving layup, finishing off-handed, while Knecht added two free-throws for a 69-67 lead with 14 seconds to play. The Vikings scored on a layup, but the Bears prevailed in holding onto the victory.

BY THE NUMBERS

Dalton Knecht scored 31 points for the Bears, one point shy of his career best, and his 10th game this season as the Bears' leading scorer.
Knecht also had a career high six three-pointers made and a career-high 21 shots attempted.
Daylen Kountz scored 10 points in the second half, for a game total of 13.
Matt Johnson II had a strong first half, scoring nine points off of three three-pointers.

ACCORDING TO COACH SMILEY
"I'm extremely proud of the team. We basically had the same situation as recent games where I thought our effort was great, but we just struggled to make shots. When we were in that 14-point hole with 12 minutes left, I felt like our guys really dug in, drew a line in the sand, and competed to an entirely different level."

"I think going zone was a big change up and our guys did a great job with that. We then made some huge shots to catch up, especially by Dalton in that stretch. Overall, I'm really proud of our team and happy that our guys can enjoy that winning feeling again. This might be the spark that gets us rolling again."

UP NEXT
The Bears return home to host Eastern Washington on Thursday, Jan. 19, for Gold Rush Night. The first 250 students at the game will receive a free gold t-shirt. Tip-off against Eastern Washington is set for 6 p.m. (MT). Visit UNCBears.com/Tickets to reserve your seat against the Eagles.