Santa Clara, CA – Carlos Stewart scored four clutch points in the final minute as Santa Clara held off the Portland State Vikings, 78-75, at Leavey Center.
 
Stewart, who scored a career-high 24 points, hit an 18-foot jump shot with 43.5 seconds left in the game to give the Broncos a 74-73 lead. Viking Jorell Saterfield missed on a driving attempt to take the lead a few seconds later and Santa Clara rebounded. Stewart was fouled with 18 seconds left and made both free throws to give the Broncos a 76-73 advantage.
 
Portland State called timeout to call a play for a tying three-point shot. But the Bronco defense was up to the task, defending the three-point line and forcing Hunter Woods into a driving shot that cut the deficit to 76-75. But with only 2.9 seconds left the Vikings had to foul immediately. Santa Clara's Keshawn Justice made both free throws, leaving PSU with a desperation heave from midcourt that missed at the final horn.
 
It was a tough loss for the PSU, who played well most of the night on the road against a team coming off a 21-win season. The Vikings led for more than 23 minutes in the game, and though they trailed for much of the second half, came back to take the lead twice inside the final 3:36 of the game.
 
Portland State lost its second game in a row and is now 5-6 on the season. The Broncos are 9-3 and have won six of their last seven games.
 
Woods scored a career-high 25 points for the Vikings. He made 9-19 from the field, 5-10 from three-point range, and 2-2 at the line. Saterfield scored 10 points with a team-high seven rebounds. Cameron Parker matched his season high with eight assists while scoring nine points.
 
Brandin Podziemski scored 17 points with 10 rebounds and five assists for Santa Clara in support of Stewart's career night.
 
Things started well for Portland State who pulled a complete turnaround from Saturday night's loss at Cal Poly. The Vikings had their poorest offensive showing of the season in that game, scoring only 49 points and shooting .318 from the field.
 
They came out on fire against the Broncos, getting two three-pointers from Woods and a third from Saterfield in the first two minutes, jumping to a 9-0 lead. In fact, Woods and Saterfield combined for PSU's first 19 points, with five assists from Parker, as the Vikings were up 19-11.
 
Portland State made seven three-point shots in the first 8:38 of the game before finally cooling down.
 
Santa Clara followed the lead of Podziemski, their star guard, who scored seven points over the final five minutes of the first half in a comeback effort. The Broncos tied the game once, but never gained the lead. PSU was up 42-38 at halftime.
 
Woods scored 14 in the half, hitting four three-pointers. The Vikings were 8-16 from three-point range overall. Parker had six assists. 
 
Santa Clara finally got the lead at the 17:47 mark of the second half on a three-pointer by Stewart. It was part of a 15-5 run to open the half as the Broncos moved out to a 53-47 lead. There was never more than a four-point difference in the score for the remainder of the game as the teams battled to the finish.
 
Foul problems by Portland State proved costly. The Vikings committed 13 fouls in the second half and the Broncos made 15 of their 18 attempts, while hitting 22-27 for the game (.815). PSU only got to the line 11 times, making seven (.636).
 
Santa Clara also held a 44-33 rebounding edge over Portland State. The teams both shot .414 overall from the field.
 

GAME NOTES

• Portland State has faced a challenging schedule as every one of its Division I opponents this season have entered the game against the Vikings with a winning record with the exception of Oregon State on Nov. 27 (3-3). 
• PSU is in the midst of six out of seven games on the road… the Vikings are now 1-4 in road games… Santa Clara is 6-1 at home this season.
• Santa Clara beat Portland State for the first time in history. The Vikings had won the previous two meetings in the series.
• Isaiah Johnson had eight points and five rebounds to lead players coming off the Viking bench.
• Portland State returns home for a single game, hosting UC Santa Barbara (7-2) on Saturday night at Viking Pavilion. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.