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Portland, OR - Portland State overcame a sluggish 33 minutes of play to turn it on late and pull out a Big Sky Conference victory over Idaho State, 74-69, at the Stott Center.
 
The Vikings were out-shot from the field and committed a season-high 19 turnovers, but found enough energy in the last 6:29 of the game to come from behind and end a season-long, four-game losing streak.
 
Idaho State's Balint Mocsan hit a three-point field goal with 7:01 left in the game, giving the Bengals their largest lead at 54-44. On the Bengals next possession, senior Zach Gengler made one of his school-record eight steals to start the Viking comeback. His takeaway led to a fastbreak layin for De'Sean Parsons and PSU was off and running. Five Vikings scored in a 19-3 run over the next four minutes and PSU went up 63-57 with 1:51 to play.
 
The Bengals made a pair of three-pointers in the final minute to make it close. But the Vikings made 9-10 free throws in the final 41 seconds to hang on for a win that nobody in the Stott Center saw coming. In all, the Vikings made nine of their last 12 field goals in the game and outscored the Bengals 30-15 in the final 6:29.
 
The other part of the late rally was a full-court press that rattled the Bengals into four turnovers down the stretch.
 
Idaho State used great ball movement to get easy shots early. They scored their first 20 points of the game in the paint. ISU led most of the first half and for the first 16 minutes in the second half. In all, the Bengals led for nearly 32 minutes in the game.
 
The Vikings shot 26-56 for the game, a .464 mark. They made only 6-20 three-pointers (.300), but were solid at the line with a 16-21 mark (.762).
 
Idaho State shot better at 28-58 (.483), but made only 4-20 three-pointers (.200) and 9-13 free throws (.692).
 
PSU's previous turnover high for the season was 15 and the Vikings had given up the second-fewest turnovers in the league (11.4) before this game. Despite their 19 mistakes, the Vikings took advantage of Idaho State by scoring 20 points off 18 Bengal turnovers. PSU had 13 steals in the game.
 
Gengler scored 14 points, 10 in the second half. He also made five of his eight steals after halftime. His steal total matched the school-record of eight, set by Terry Adolph in 1978.
 
Also scoring 14 points for the Vikings was Deontae North. Bryce Canda and De'Sean Parsons scored 12 points each.
 
Geno Luzcando had 18 points, seven rebounds and seven steals for Idaho State. Ethan Telfair scored 15 points and handed off six assists.
 
Portland State improved to 12-10 on the season with the win. The Vikings are now 5-6 in the Big Sky Conference. PSU improved to 8-2 at home this season.
 
Idaho State dropped to 6-18 on the season, 3-8 in the Big Sky.
 
GAME NOTES: De'Sean Parsons and Traylin Farris each had six rebounds to lead the Vikings… Idaho State had beaten the Vikings in their last three meetings… Portland State hosts first-place Weber State on Saturday at the Stott Center. Live video and audio can be found at GoViks.com and live stats will be available at ViksLive.com.