Weber State improved to 8-2 with a 97-81 road victory over the University of Portland Saturday night.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 46-34 halftime lead and coasted to victory as five players scored in double figures.Johnnie Moore, who didn't start Wednesday against Oregon Tech, returned to the starting lineup and came up with a big game, scoring 18 points on 9-of-9 shooting and grabbing 12 rebounds.
"Moore responded well - that's big," said Weber State coach Ron Abegglen.
Lewis Lofton came off the bench to score 18 points and share game-high honors with Moore. Ruben Nembhard added 17, Kirk Smith scored 16 and Robbie Johnson chipped in 15 for the Wildcats.
Portland was led by Curt Rant with 20 points. Their top player Canaan Chatman scored 19 points, but Abegglen said many of those points came late in the game. Abegglen praised the defensive job by Elroy Miller on Chatman.
"Our defense early in the game got us off to a nice start," said Abegglen. "Then they had a hard time keeping up with our running game."
Portland, which made the finals at the Great Alaskan Shootout where Weber finished third, played without three starters, who were out with injuries. The Pilots fell to 6-3 with the loss.
Weber faces the U.S. Coast Guard Monday and at BYU Tuesday.