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Cheney, WA – Eastern Washington's Kim Aiken buried a game-winning, buzzer-beating three-point shot out of the left corner to send Portland State home with its first loss in three weeks, 68-66.
 
Aiken's shot came in the frantic final seconds at Reese Court after it looked like the Vikings' Deante Strickland might be a hero once again.
 
PSU, which led for more than 30 minutes of the contest, nonetheless trailed inside the final minute. The Eagles' Tyler Kidd scored on a driving layin with 29 seconds left to put Eastern on top at 65-63.
 
Following a timeout, the Vikings ran two screens for point guard Holland Woods. After the second, he whipped a pass across court to an open Strickland, who rose up in front of the Viking bench and buried a left wing three-pointer. PSU was ahead 66-65.
 
The only problem was there were still 9.6 seconds on the clock.
 
The Eagles raced up court for a final chance. Jack Perry drove the lane and was surrounded by the Vikings. He pitched out to Aiken, who was alone in the corner and the Eagle forward got the game-winner away just before the clock struck zero.
 
It was a tough loss for the Vikings, who went into the game having won five straight. PSU and Eastern entered the contest tied for fifth place in the Big Sky along with Southern Utah. The top five teams receive a first-round bye in the Big Sky Tournament, Mar. 13-16.
 
Now PSU is 9-9 in league play, 14-15 overall. The Eagles improve to 10-8 and are presently fifth alone. Southern Utah (9-8) plays later tonight at Montana.
 
For the second time in three games Strickland scored a career-high 20 points. He made 8-13 shots, including 4-6 three-pointers, and dished out four assists. The senior guard hit a game-winning three-pointer earlier in the season at Weber State.
 
Michael Nuga scored 12 points, Woods had 11, and Sal Nuhu added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Vikings.
 
Portland State certainly had an excellent chance for another win, building double digit leads in both the first and second halves. But, both times the Vikings let it slip away.
 
PSU's full -court pressure dictated an early frenetic pace and the Vikings capitalized with runs of 8-0 and 10-0 in first 10 minutes of the game. The largest lead was 22-8 on a Strickland three-pointer with 10:41 to go in the half.
 
Portland State struggled to shoot after that, making only three of their last 14 shots in the half, and did not make a field goal in the last 4:53. Still, the Vikings managed a 36-35 halftime lead.
 
The lead changed hands five times in the opening minutes of the second half. Then the Vikings found their shooting touch once again. At one point, they hit six straight shots. Nuga made a pair of three-pointers in a 12-0 run and PSU had command at 57-47 with 11:17 to go. Unfortunately, the Vikings only made three field goals, shooting 3-12 from the field, and scored nine points the rest of the way.
 
The Eagles wrestled the lead right back at 61-60 with a 14-3 run of their own. The game went back and forth over the final five minutes before Aiken's game-winner.
 
Portland State finished at 25-60 from the field (.417), 9-24 from three-point range (.375) and 7-10 at the line. The Eagles were only 23-60 (.383) and 6-26 (.231), but got the line more often, hitting 16-18 free throws (.889).
 
Aiken scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Eastern Washington. Jesse Hunt had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Mason Peatling scored 14 and Kidd had 13.
 
GAME NOTES: Woods had a game-high five assists… Nuhu has three double-doubles this season… PSU is now 3-10 on the road this year, 3-7 in Big Sky road games… the Vikings beat Eastern Washington, 78-65, in Portland on Jan. 24… Portland State returns home for its final two regular season games next week. The Vikings host first-place Montana on Thursday, then Montana State on Saturday. Both games tip off at 7:05 p.m. at the Viking Pavilion. A live stream is available on Pluto TV Channel 232. Live statistics are at www.ViksLive.com.