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Ogden • Weber State's already-disappointing season took a turn for the worse Thursday night, leaving coach Randy Rahe in a foul mood.

After Portland State's 69-63 victory over the Wildcats at the Dee Center, Rahe talked pointedly about his team' approach to the game.

Rahe blamed himself.

"We're not tough enough," he said. "We're not a tough enough basketball team right now. We're not tough enough physically and we're not tough enough mentally. And that goes on me.

"Our teams around here have always been tough as hell. We fight like crazy. You have to kill us to beat us. That's how we've made a living around here and, right now, we're not tough enough."

Against Portland State, Weber State trailed by 11 points early in the second half before rallying to take a 53-52 lead with 7:40 remaining. But the Vikings countered with an 11-2 run to regain control and send Weber State to its second straight loss.

The Wildcats slipped to 8-10 overall and 3-4 in league play.

"It's on me," Rahe said. "That's my job as head coach. I don't know much. I'm not the greatest coach in the world. But our teams have always been tough as hell. We fight like crazy and we haven't done that the last two ballgames. It's my job to get that out of them and I will."

Rahe continued, almost as though he was talking to his players instead of the media.

"I will find a way —I damn sure will," he said. "The results? I don't know. I don't care about results right now. All I care about is what we're about in our program and our culture ­— how tough we are, how hard we fight, how hard we play.

"I'm not the best Xs and Os coach out there. I know that. But I do know how to fight and how to play with toughness and how to compete. And I'm not getting that across to my guys well enough."

Sophomore Jeremy Senglin led Weber State with 21 points.

"I just want us to play Weber State basketball," Rahe said. "We're young. I know that. But I'm tired of talking about being young. No more young. It's time to be a man. It's time to dig in. We're going to go jump in the foxhole. We're going to learn how to fight and whatever happens from there, I'll live with it." —

Portland State 69,

Weber State 63

PORTLAND ST. (10-7)

Bamba 5-10 0-0 10, Wiggins 5-11 4-8 17, Tucker 9-12 3-5 21, Winston 3-10 2-3 9, Gengler 1-2 2-2 4, Spickerman 2-3 0-0 4, Sweeney 0-1 0-0 0, Douglas 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 26-52 13-20 69.

WEBER ST. (8-10)

Gittens 1-5 0-0 3, Hill 2-7 0-2 4, Bolomboy 3-9 0-0 6, Golden 5-11 1-3 14, Senglin 5-11 8-8 21, Johnson-Coston 1-2 0-0 2, Hunter 0-0 2-2 2, Richardson 2-9 0-0 5, Hajek 3-7 0-0 6. Totals 22-61 11-15 63.

Halftime—Portland St. 31-24. 3-Point Goals—Portland St. 4-12 (Wiggins 3-6, Winston 1-4, Gengler 0-1, Bamba 0-1), Weber St. 8-23 (Senglin 3-4, Golden 3-8, Gittens 1-3, Richardson 1-6, Hill 0-2). Fouled Out—Gittens. Rebounds—Portland St. 37 (Bamba 11), Weber St. 35 (Bolomboy 10). Assists—Portland St. 13 (Winston 7), Weber St. 16 (Senglin 7). Total Fouls—Portland St. 16, Weber St. 17. A—7,162.