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Portland, OR - Portland State is heading to the Big Sky Conference Tournament exactly the way it would want to go - playing its best basketball of the season. The Vikings wrapped up regular season play with an 88-86 victory over Southern Utah on Saturday night.

The Vikings will go to the tournament with a 12-17 record, 8-10 in Big Sky Conference play. But more importantly, it travels with three wins in a row and four in its last five games. The Vikings shot .544 from the field against Southern Utah, and has been over 50% in all four of those wins, averaging more than 90 points per game.

PSU will now meet Northern Colorado (10-20, 7-11) in the opening game of the tournament on Tuesday in Reno. The Vikings are the number-eight seed, while the Bears will be the number-nine seed. PSU won its only meeting against UNC, 89-86, one week ago in Greeley.

Saturday's game was another win for the Vikings, but Southern Utah did not make it easy. The Thunderbirds battled back from a 13-point deficit in the first half to tie it at halftime, then a 10-point deficit in the second half, making the last nine minutes of the contest a back-and-forth tussle.

With the game tied at 78 and just under two minutes to play, Isaiah Pineiro made a driving three-point play to give PSU an 81-78 advantage. On the other end 20 seconds later, Pineiro blocked a shot and grabbed the rebound. Those two plays gave PSU enough breathing room to hang on for the win as the Vikings made 7-8 free throws in the closing 1:02 of the game. A three-pointer at the buzzer by the Thunderbirds' John Marshall trimmed the final margin to just two.

Cameron Forte had another marquee game for the Vikings, scoring 25 points on 11-17 from the field and 3-4 at the line. Forte added five rebounds and two blocked shots.

Pineiro, coming off a 31-point effort on Thursday, scored 19 more, hitting 5-8 from the field and 9-10 at the line.

Zach Gengler was headed for a big game before foul trouble took him off the court. Gengler still finished with 14 points on 5-6 from the field and 3-4 at the line. He had a game-high six rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes.

Calaen Robinson came off the bench to also score 14 points for the Vikings.

PSU shot 31-57 from the field on the night. Perhaps more significant was a 22-28 (.786) free throw effort for a team shooting just 65% going into the game. The Vikings also took great care of the ball, committing only six turnovers.

Southern Utah had five players in double figures led by 17 from James McGee. Casey Oliverson scored 16 points. The Thunderbirds also had a good shooting night, hitting 31-61 from the field (.508).

The Thunderbirds finish the regular season at 5-23, 3-15 and will be the number-12 seed in the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

GAME NOTES: The Vikings were 8-6 at home this season… the three-game winning streak is the longest of the year… PSU has won six in a row over Southern Utah… Portland State will face Northern Colorado in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Basketball Tournament on Tuesday at 12:05 p.m. in Reno, NV. The winner will meet Big Sky regular season champion Weber State on Thursday, also in a 12:05 p.m. game. Live video, audio and stats are available at www.GoViks.com.