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Portland, OR – When Holland "Boo Boo" Woods splashed a 32-foot three-pointer at the halftime buzzer you could almost see the Portland State team rise a few feet above the Viking Pavilion hardwood. Portland State had struggled through the first half offensively, but were energized from that point forward taking a 78-69 Big Sky Conference victory over Southern Utah.
 
That shot got Woods going, and his Viking teammates followed. He had only three points and three assists prior to the shot, but scored 16 points and dished off five more over the last 20:01 of the game. Portland State, which started the game 0-9 from the field, went on to make 16-29 shots in the second half (.552), and 5-8 three-pointers (.625).
 
PSU led the final 20 minutes, holding off a Southern Utah team that had beaten it in Cedar City on Jan. 17. The Vikings improved their record to 11-14 on the season, 6-8 in the Big Sky Conference. They moved within a half-game of Southern Utah (12-12, 7-8) in the Big Sky standings, and are now one-and-a-half games behind fifth-place Eastern Washington (7-6).
 
It was PSU's second win in a row and fourth straight at Viking Pavilion. And the men in green can look forward to two more home games next week.
 
"It's always more comfortable to play at home," said Viking Coach Barret Peery, whose team had played the fewest home games in the Big Sky heading into the meeting with the Thunderbirds. They beat Northern Arizona, 103-94, at home on Thursday night. "There has been tremendous excitement to get back home this week and get these wins."
 
But it didn't look good early.
 
It was a sluggish start for both sides, worse for Portland State. The Vikings missed their first nine shots and Southern Utah made just one of its first eight attempts. It took seven minutes before Deante Strickland broke the ice for the Vikings with a three-pointer. PSU went on to make 11-17 shots for the remainder of the half and work their way back into the game.
 
PSU gathered its first lead at 22-21 with 3:30 to go in the first half. It was tied with four seconds left when Woods raced up court off an in-bound play and swished the buzzer-beater to put the Vikings ahead 31-28 at halftime.
 
Both teams shot well in the second half. PSU hit 55% from the field and Southern Utah hit at 53%. The T-Birds stayed close, but could never get the lead back as Portland State's lead volleyed between five and nine points most of the way.
 
Down seven in the final minute, the Thunderbirds had to foul to give themselves a chance. But the Vikings made 7-8 free throws in the last 47 seconds to seal the win.
 
Woods finished with a game-high 19 points on 7-15 from the field, 2-4 three-pointers and 3-5 free throws. He came close to his second straight double-double, adding eight assists, four rebounds and three steals. His array of jump shooting, dashes to the hoop and drive-and-dish efforts were too much for Southern Utah.
 
Michael Nuga had another good game off the bench with 12 points, and Strickland had one his best performances of the season with 11 points and four assists off the bench.
 
After their initial 0-9 run, the Vikings made 27-46 shots the rest of the way (.587).
 
"I thought we got some good shots that we didn't make. I felt like we just needed to keep chipping away," said Peery. "The big stat for tonight was our guys only turning the ball over 10 times. (Southern Utah) turned us over 25 times last game and I think they are very good defensively."
 
Meanwhile, the Vikings were able to put just enough pressure on the Thunderbirds to ignite the offense.
 
"Our press kicked in a little but. We got some great steals that turned into baskets. I thought our defense was really, really good. We had five different segments in the first half where we got three stops in a row," said Peery.
 
Southern Utah had 15 turnovers that the Vikings turned into 16 points. PSU also had 12 fast break points.
 
Harrison Butler led the Thunderbirds with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
 
GAME NOTES: Sal Nuhu had nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds… Jamie Orme scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting… PSU shot .491 overall in the game and .471 from three-point range… PSU is 8-4 at home this season… Portland State is home again next week. The Vikings host Idaho State on Thursday night and Sacramento State on Saturday. Both games begin at 7:05 p.m. and are live streamed on Pluto TV and www.WatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.