PORTLAND, Ore. – Playing against an NCAA Division I men's basketball opponent for the first time in 33 seasons, the George Fox University Bruins made a game of it for the first 10 minutes before the Portland State University Vikings ran away with a 92-58 victory Thursday night here at PSU's Peter W. Stott Center.

The Vikings used an up-tempo running game to jump out to a 17-4 lead, hitting six of their first nine shots while the Bruins were missing five of their first six.  At that point, Mike Taylor came off the bench to give the Bruins a spark.  A former D-I player at Marist College who was held out of the starting lineup after jamming two fingers in the Bruins' last game at Pacific Lutheran University on Saturday, he appeared to be back in form as he hit his first three shots, including a pair of three-pointers.  That ignited a string of seven made shots in nine attempts by the Bruins, Rich Smith hitting a jumper and a three to cap a 17-4 rally that brought them into a 21-21 tie with 11 minutes left in the half.

The rest of the period was all Vikings, however, as the Bruins missed their next five shots and the home team took advantage.  Led by Chris Harriel's 15 first-half points, including three threes, and 11 by Chehales Tapscott, Portland State out-scored the Bruins 28-7 to close the period with a 49-28 lead.  The Vikings hit .526 (20-38) from the floor in the half to .355 (11-31) for the Bruins.

The Vikings maintained a lead of 20 or more points most of the remainder of the game.  The Bruins managed to climb within 15 points at 64-49 on a pair of free throws by Matt Zandbergen with 10:43 left, but that was as close as the visitors would come.  The final score was PSU's largest lead.

Smith, who hit 5-8 from the field and had 12 points in the first half, wound up with 16 in all to lead the Bruins.  Taylor hit another three in the second half to finish with 11, while Zandbergen had a perfect shooting night, making 3-3 field goals and 2-2 free throws for a career-high eight points.  George Fox shot .333 (22-66) for the game and was out-rebounded 54-28.  Smith had nine rebounds, just missing his second double-double of the season.  Cole Whitehurst and Corey Clark each handed out three assists.

Scoring 16 in the second half, Charles Odum led a quartet of Vikings in double digits with 20 points.  He was joined by Tapscott with 18, Nate Lozeau with 16, and Harriel with 15.  PSU shot .507 (36-71) from the floor for the game.  Tapscott and Lozeau both had double-doubles with 12 and 10 rebounds respectively, and Dane Johnson passed out nine assists.

George Fox fell to 1-5 with the setback, while Portland State improved to 5-2.  The Bruins' last game against a D-I foe was also against the Vikings on Jan. 13, 1978, when PSU legend Freeman Williams poured in 66 points in a 124-81 romp.  The Bruins are now 0-4 all-time against the Vikings, having also dropped a home-and-home series with them in 1948.

NEXT: George Fox is off next week for final exams, resuming play on Saturday, Dec. 18, in a non-conference game at Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash., at 5:30 p.m. … Portland State hosts California State University-Fullerton Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in a non-conference match.