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Cedar City, UT – The comebacks just keep coming for the Vikings. And this time Portland State really had to pull a game out of the fire to complete the process, beating Southern Utah, 96-91, in overtime.
 
Portland State played from behind almost all night, but came back from a nine-point second-half deficit to get the game to overtime and, eventually, get the win. But it almost didn't happen.
 
The Vikings were trailing 80-77 in the final minute of regulation and had the ball. Bryce Canda missed a three-point attempt to tie with 18 seconds left, but the rebound went out of bounds to PSU. After inbounding Holland Woods struggled to find an open man. Finally, he lofted a three from the left wing under duress and it went down with 3.2 seconds left, tying the game and sending it to overtime.
 
In the extra session, the three-pointer proved key again. Michael Mayhew hit a pair from distance, sandwiched around a third from Woods. When Brandon Hollins made a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left the Vikings were ahead 91-87 and were able to hang on from there. In all, they made 3-4 three-pointers and 7-8 free throws in the extra session.
 
"Our guys just kept grinding it out," said Viking Coach Barret Peery, acknowledging that the game was no work of art, just workman-like.
 
"I was really proud of Boo Boo (Woods) making that last shot (in regulation)," said Peery. "He had missed some tough shots early in the game. He was playing hurt for us, but he just found a way. I was proud of him. (Brandon) Hollins continues to be a double-double machine for us and Mike (Mayhew) made a couple of big threes late in game.
 
"We had six in double figures and everyone contributed. The offensive glass was a huge factor, we had 22 of those tonight. And we were aggressive getting to the line 33 times."
 
Portland State's win improved it to 17-11 on the season and gave Peery a win in his first appearance at his alma mater and former coaching stop. The 17 wins matches PSU's fifth-most in 22 seasons in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings, now 7-8 in league, have at least four more games to play.
 
The win also marked the ninth time this season, and the sixth time on the road, that PSU has come from behind in the second half to win. Portland State is 9-5 overall in road games.
 
Those 22 offensive boards led to 22 second-chance points for the Vikings, twice as many as Southern Utah had in the game. That made up for an overall shooting mark of 32-80 (.400) for PSU. The Thunderbirds shot 31-66 (.470) for the game.
 
Portland State started slow, trailing 9-0 and 22-8 in the first half. The Vikings came back to lead briefly, but trailed Southern Utah 43-40 at the break.
 
The largest second-half deficit for PSU was 59-50 with 13:59 to play. The Vikings were still down 76-70 at the 4:36 mark before outscoring the Thunderbirds 10-1 down the stretch.
 
Woods led the Vikings with 20 points and seven assists in the game. Hollins racked up his fourth straight double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Center Ryan Edwards had 14 points and seven rebounds before fouling out in regulation. Mayhew also scored 14, making 5-8 shots from the field. Canda and Braxton Tucker each scored 10 points.
 
Dwayne Morgan scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Southern Utah. The T-Birds' record move to 10-16 on the season, 4-11 in the Big Sky Conference.
 
GAME NOTES: Portland State has won nine straight games against Southern Utah. However those nine games have been decided by an average of less than six points per game… Holland Woods saw his free-throws-made streak end at 23, but he still hit 6-7 in the game. He has made 42 of his last 47 (.894)... Portland State concludes its road trip on Saturday at Northern Arizona. Game time is 5 p.m. PT. The game will be live streamed at www.WatchBigSky.com and www.Pluto.tv. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.