Missoula, MT - Sacramento State's senior guard combo of Dylan Garrity and Mikh McKinney were just too much for the Portland State, combining for 46 points in leading the Hornets over the Vikings, 70-60, in a Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal round game played at Dahlberg Arena.

Garrity scored 22 points, hitting 10-14 shots from the field, while McKinney - who was named Big Sky Conference Most Valuable Player earlier in the week - had 24, making 8-17 shots, 3-3 three-pointers and 5-5 free throws.

The Hornets shot 51% from the field, 50% from three-point range and 87% at the line in the win.

For its part, Portland State did almost everything right, except one thing - shoot the ball well in the second half. PSU led 31-27 at halftime, but made only 9-30 second-half shots (30%), 2-12 from three-point range (17%). 

The loss nullified a brilliant effort by Viking senior Gary Winston, who tied his career high with 26 points. Winston made 10-14 shots, 2-4 three-pointers and 4-4 at the line. 

The Hornets, now 20-10 on the season, move on to play Eastern Washington in a Big Sky semifinal on Friday evening. Portland State is out of the tournament and drops to 15-14 on the season.

Sacramento State made a pair of 8-0 runs on the Vikings in the first half, but both times PSU answered back. And usually it was Winston hitting an important shot. He was 6-7 from the field in the half, hitting both of his three pointers, for 14 points. 

The Vikings led for a little more than 10 minutes in a closely-contested first half. The largest lead for either team was six by the Vikings at the 4:02 mark.

PSU's last lead was 38-36 with just under 15 minutes to play. The Hornets then had an 11-2 run which included seven points from Garrity and McKinney. PSU tied it on two more occasions but never led again.

Trailing 57-54 with just under three minutes to play, the Vikings' DaShaun Wiggins had a pull up three-pointer in transition that rimmed out. McKinney went the other way with the rebound and buried a three of his own, putting Sacramento State ahead by six at the 2:27 mark. 

"That was kind of a back-breaker for us," said Vikings Coach Tyler Geving in the change of fortune for his him.

Once the Hornets got their lead to six points, they set up a four-corner offense and tried to milk as much of the clock as possible over the last five minutes. The strategy worked as the Hornets were able to making enough late-clock drives to the rim and 8-9 free throws down the stretch. 

Also making a big effort in the second half for the Hornets was Cody Demps, who made all three of his field goals and all seven free throws after intermission for all 13 of his points.

"They have two pretty good guards, scoring 24 points and 22 points, and Demps had a pretty good game too. They hit some key shots in the second half," said Geving. "Every game we played with them (this season) came down to just one or two possessions. Unfortunately, they made the plays and we didn't."

"They have a good team and we have a good team, and it was a well-fought game for sure."

In addition to Winston's 26, Tiegba Bamba scored 13 points and Wiggins tallied 12. Bamba added seven rebounds and three steals. Collin Spickerman grabbed a season-high nine rebounds and blocked five shots. 

For the game, Portland State shot 22-61 (36%) from the field, 6-20 from distance (30%) and 10-16 at the line (63%). Still, the Vikings committed only nine turnovers and out-rebounded the Hornets 38-34. 

GAME NOTES: Zach Gengler tied his career-high with five assists… Braxton Tucker missed his fourth straight game with a knee contusion… Portland State is now 9-10 all-time in Big Sky Tournament games, 5-4 in quarterfinal round contests.