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Reno, NV – Nobody in the Big Sky Conference gave Portland State more trouble this season than the Sacramento State Hornets. This time though, in the third meeting, the Vikings hung on and defeated the Hornets, 71-67, in a Big Sky Tournament first round game.
 
Holland "Boo Boo" Woods, the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year, scored the last 11 points of the game for Portland State as the Hornets pulled within a single point late. Woods finished with a game-high 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. That followed a strong early shooting performance by Bryce Canda, who had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Vikings.
 
"That is why Boo Boo was Freshman of the Year," said Viking Coach Barret Peery about his young point guard's play at the end of the game. "That was validation if anybody had any question on that."
 
With the victory, Portland State moved to 20-12 on the season and a Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal round game with Eastern Washington (18-13) on Thursday night at the Reno Events Center. PSU has 20 wins for just the third time in its 22-year Big Sky history and fifth time in school history.
 
Although the matchup favored the sixth-seeded Vikings it did not come without some trepidation. Portland State had its problems with 11^th-seeded Sacramento State during the conference season. The Hornets were the only team among the six below the Vikings in the standings that had defeated them… and the Hornets had done it twice.
 
"This was one of those prototypical nights in March. (Teams) aren't going to go away. We had a nice lead at halftime… and what is unique in leagues is different teams have different matchups that are difficult for them. Sac State has been an unbelievably difficult challenge for us this year," said Peery.
 
Portland State, which appeared in control in the second half, had to survive a stretch of 8:12 without a field goal.
 
As the Hornets did successfully in the first meetings against the Vikings, they attempted again to slow the pace of the game and take some fire out of PSU's attacking style. It worked early.
 
The Hornets were within two at 18-16 before an 18-2 run gave the Vikings the separation they needed and a 36-18 lead. PSU went into half ahead 40-25.
 
Deante Strickland (11) and Canda (10) led the offensive charge for Portland State. But a key for the Vikings was holding down Hornets' Justin Strings and Jordan Tolbert, who had burned the them in games earlier in the season. That Hornet duo was a combined 2-10 from the field in the first half.
 
The Vikings finally got the pace to their liking in the second half and were up 49-32 when the offense disappeared. The Hornets chipped away and were within one at 60-59 with 3:56 to play.
 
That's when Woods hit the biggest shot of the night. With the shot clock draining to its final seconds and a hand in his face, Woods hit a pull-up three-pointer. That gave PSU a little comfort at 63-59 with 3:20 left.
 
"I play for moments like that," said Woods. "Bryce and I live for shots like that. We were (against) the shot clock, but I just took a shot I knew I could make."
 
"He puts in the work to take that shot and we all have the trust in him to do it," said Canda.
 
Woods made another jump shot and six straight free throws down the stretch, including four in the last 17 seconds. The Hornets never went away, but they also never caught the Vikings.  
 
PSU was 22-55 from the field (.400) and 22-31 at the free throw line (.710). The Hornets made 22-56 (.393) and 15-19 at the line (.789). The Vikings out-rebounded the Hornets 40-33.
 
Strickland finished with 13 points off the bench for Portland State.
 
Bryce Fowler had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists for Sacramento State (7-25). Strings made only 2-12 shots for the game after averaging 18.3 points going in. Tolbert scored 14 points with five assists.
 
GAME NOTES: Portland State's only other 20-win seasons in Big Sky history were the back-to-back 23-10 campaigns that led to NCAA Tournament bids in 2007-08 and 2008-09… PSU is 12-12 all-time in Big Sky Tournament games. They are 3-0 in first-round games… PSU is 5-6 all-time in quarterfinal round games. The Vikings play a quarterfinal on Thursday night against Eastern Washington. The teams split the season series with each winning on their home court. Tip-off is 8:05 p.m. at the Reno Events Center. The game will be televised on Eleven Sports and livestreamed at www.WatchBigSky.com and www.Pluto.tv (channel 231). Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.