Saturday, November 11st, 4:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: McArthur Court (9,087) -- Eugene, Oregon. Television: None. Home Record: Lehigh 0-0, Portland St. 0-0. Away Record: Lehigh 0-0, Portland St. 0-0. Neutral Record: Lehigh 0-1, Portland St. 0-1. Conference Record: Lehigh 0-0, Portland St. 0-0. Series Record: First-ever meeting.

GAME NOTES: The Lehigh Mountain Hawks and the Portland State Vikings are set to collide as part of the BTI Classic, a round robin tournament hosted by the University of Oregon. Lehigh, which competes in the Patriot League, returns three of its top four scores from last year's squad. The Mountain Hawks are 42-11 under current head coach Billy Taylor when they surrender 60 points, a stat to watch for today. Last night, Lehigh dropped a 77-65 decision to Oregon on the home court of the Ducks. As for Portland State, it is coming off a season in which it finished 12-16 overall and 5-9 in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings began the 2006-07 campaign last night against Cal State- Northridge, and that tilt resulted in an ugly 90-65 defeat. This game marks the first-ever meeting between Lehigh and Portland State on the hardwood.

Lehigh is a team that focuses heavily on its play at the defensive end, as it limited opponents to 38.5 percent shooting from the floor last year to place sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense. In regard to scoring the ball, Jose Olivero is the top option at the offensive end after scoring 17.1 ppg last season. Kyle Neptune is a steady performer who added 11.1 ppg. In last night's opener against the host team Oregon, the Mountain Hawks permitted the Ducks to connect on 13-of-28 three-pointers. Lehigh had three players score in double figures, led by Olivero's 17 points. Jason Mgebroff pitched in 16 points in defeat, while Bryan White managed 11 points. Lehigh can take pride in the fact that it led 24-23 at one point and never allowed the Ducks to pull away.

Three starters are back in the fold for Portland State, reason to believe that the team can improve on last season's disappointing results. Juma Kamara averaged 11.4 ppg a year ago on the strength of his staggering 52.7 percent shooting from three-point range. Ryan Sommer, the club's point guard, netted 10.2 ppg to go along with 102 assists. The team's center, Scott Morrison, hopes to improve on his 9.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg. Against Cal State-Northridge last night, the Vikings shot a lowly 35.4 percent from the floor and turned the ball over 21 times. They did force 27 turnovers, but the fact that they permitted the Matadors to shoot 57.1 percent from the field led to defeat. Deonte Huff tallied 13 points, while Morrison managed 11 points. Kamara was held to one point in 22 minutes of action, while Sommer scored two points in 20 minutes.

Expect this game to be close from start to finish, as Portland State and Lehigh appear to be evenly matched. Go with the Vikings in a squeaker.

Predicted Outcome

Portland State 67, Lehigh 66