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Bozeman, MT – Bobcat guard Tyler Hall hit a 12-foot jump shot in the lane with 3.9 seconds left in overtime giving Montana State a 90-88 Big Sky Conference win over Portland State at Worthington Arena.
 
It was another painful loss for the Vikings who can't seem to shake their mid-season blues. The Bobcats handed PSU its sixth loss in seven games, and it has been all hard luck for the Vikings. Four of the six losses have come in overtime, four have come on the road and five were by six points or less.
 
The defeat wiped away a great comeback by the Vikings, spearheaded by senior forward De'Sean Parsons. PSU was trailing 77-66 with 3:48 remaining in the game before Parsons went on a rampage. He ran off six straight points and 11 overall in the closing moments.
 
PSU trailed 81-78 with 33.8 seconds left after a pair of Parsons free throws. After an MSU free throw, he then made a key offensive rebound and kicked out a pass to Bryce Canda, who buried a three-pointer. That pulled the Vikings within 82-81 with 6.9 seconds remaining.
 
On the ensuing inbound play, MSU's Harald Frey committed an offensive foul and the Vikings had the ball back with 4.4 seconds left. Calaen Robinson got the ball inside to Parsons, who was fouled on a shot just before the buzzer. Parsons made one of two at the line to send it to overtime tied at 82.
 
The Bobcats were up 88-84 with two minutes remaining in overtime and again the Vikings came back. Brandon Hollins made a pair of free throws with 1:54 left. Then Parsons hit a driving layin to tie it at 88 with 1:09 to play.
 
After a score inside by MSU, Hollins grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in for another tie at 90-90 with 27.8 seconds on the clock.
 
Montana State ran the clock down on the final play and allowed Hall to go one-on-one for a winning basket. He worked it down to the middle of the key and hit a decisive turnaround jumper.
 
Parsons scored 28 points and hauled down nine rebounds to lead the Vikings, who started the game at a disadvantage. Two starters were expected not to play but did compete. Guard Deontae North, the team's second-leading scorer at 14.0 points per game, was down with illness. Center Traylin Farris, who averages 11.1 points, suffered from back spasms earlier in the day and was expected to be out. Both ended up playing off the bench. North was only able to play 14 minutes and did not score. Farris bounced back a little better, scoring nine points with five rebounds in 25 minutes.
 
Canda finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Robinson scored 14 points and Zach Gengler had a dozen for the Vikings.
 
Hall, the Big Sky's second-leading scorer, went for 24 points, making 8-10 shots, 5-7 three-pointers and 3-3 at the line. Frey scored 18 points and had four assists.
 
PSU shot 30-65 from the field (.462) and 24-30 at the free throw line (.800). The Bobcats were 30-60 from the field (.500) and 20-27 at the line (.741). They made 12 three-pointers compared to six for the Vikings.
 
Portland State is now 12-12 on the season, 5-8 in the Big Sky Conference. Montana State is 13-14, 8-6 in the Big Sky.
 
GAME NOTES: Freshman Brendan Rumel got his second start of the season in place of Farris. He played seven minutes scoring four points… PSU's fifth overtime game of the season is a new school record… the Vikings have also played a record nine overtime periods… PSU is 4-9 on the road this year… Montana State beat the Vikings on Jan. 21 in Portland, 71-65… Portland State will play at Montana on Saturday. Tip-off is 6 p.m. PT. Live video and audio can be found at GoViks.com and live stats will be available at ViksLive.com.