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Portland, OR – No matter where the Portland State Vikings land in the final Big Sky Conference standings, they will always have the memory of a rocking Viking Pavilion victory and season sweep over first-place Montana to look back on.
 
Portland State handled the league-leading Griz, 81-69, behind outstanding backcourt play. Holland Woods scored 20 points with five assists and four steals and Deante Strickland had 19 points off the bench. Moreover, those two ignited a late first-half run that gave the Vikings control of a game that they never gave back.
 
PSU improved to 10-9 in Big Sky play with one game to play, 15-15 overall. The Vikings sit behind a three-way tie for third place among Montana State, Weber State and Eastern Washington (all 11-8). PSU hosts MSU in the season finale at The Ship on Saturday night.
 
Not only has PSU swept the league's top team this season, it marks the first sweep over the Grizzlies since the Vikings' Big Sky title season of 2007-08.
 
"The biggest thing this (win) says is our team has really grown and continues to grow," said Viking Coach Barret Peery. "They are really understanding how we do things and getting better in the system."
 
Montana, which entered the game in first, was playing for a possible Big Sky Conference regular season championship and number one seed in the Big Sky Tournament. But the Griz would not get it on this night. They are now tied for first with Northern Colorado at 15-4.
 
Viking forward Jamie Orme opened the game with a breakaway steal and dunk. That play ignited a large PSU crowd and it stayed lit all night.
 
"Everybody is doing a good job of trying to control tempo against us," said Peery. "We are trying to be more high-paced all the time. When Jamie made that play it set the tone for what we wanted to do."
 
It was a tight battle for the first 12 minutes with Montana leading 20-16. Then Strickland took charge late in the first half. The senior guard hit a teardrop jumper in the lane and followed it with a pair of three-pointers to start a 10-0 run. Woods hit back-to-back threes and Rashaad Goolsby scored in the lane at the buzzer for a 21-7 run to close out the half.
 
PSU led 37-27 at the break. Woods and Strickland were a combined 7-11 from the field and 4-6 from three-point range for 18 points.
 
The Vikings exploded out of the locker room for another nine straight points and led 46-27 before Montana Coach Travis DeCuire could get a timeout.
 
PSU's largest lead was 52-32 with 15:10 to play in the game.
 
Sayeed Pridgett took over for Montana as it battled to narrow the deficit, going on a 15-4 run over the next six minutes. Pridgett scored 10 in a row for the Griz at one point. His inside basket had the Griz within 62-55 at the 4:57 mark. That was the closest they would come.
 
"We got that big lead, they made a good push against us and tried to come back, but we were able to finish it off," said Peery.
 
PSU made 14 of 16 free throws over the last 3:11 of the game to hold Montana at arm's length.
 
Woods made 6-11 from the field and 6-7 at the line for his 20 points. Strickland was 5-10, including 4-8 three-pointers and 5-6 at the line. Sal Nuhu had another double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.
 
PSU shot 26-56 from the field (.464), 22-28 at the line (.786) and out-rebounded the Griz, 34-29.
 
Montana shot well from the field at 28-55 (.509) but made only 5-18 from three-point range (.278).
 
Pridgett had a big night, scoring 23 of his game-high 28 points in the second half. He made 12-17 field goals and 4-6 at the line. Ahmaad Rorie added 13 points and four assists for Montana, which is now 22-8 on the season.

GAME NOTES: A crowd of 2,042 attended the game at the Viking Pavilion, the largest of the season… PSU is 11-4 at home this season and has won seven straight home games… Sal Nuhu extended his consecutive free throw streak to 21… the Vikings won the first meeting between the teams this season, 77-74, in Missoula in overtime… Portland State concludes the regular season on Saturday night, hosting Montana State at the Viking Pavilion. Tip off is 7:05 p.m. with the game live streamed on Pluto TV Channel 232 and www.WatchBigSky.com. Live stats are available at www.ViksLive.com.