Riverside, CA – A key blocked shot by Jacob Eyman followed by a driving hoop from Jorell Saterfield in the closing seconds gave Portland State a thrilling 74-72 road win at California Baptist.
 
Portland State had a brilliant second half and made several big plays down the stretch to hang on and beat a strong California Baptist team that entered the game with an 8-4 record.
 
The Vikings took a 13-point lead midway through the second half, then had to hold off a Lancers' rally to pick up the win. 
 
PSU was up 65-63 following an Isaiah Johnson dunk with 4:05 remaining in the game. From there the lead changed hands six times down the stretch. 
 
The Lancers scored five in a row to go up 68-65 with 3:11 left on the clock. PSU answered with a pair of free throws from Mikal Starks and a defensive stop on the other end.
 
Eyman, who had one of his best games as a Viking, dunked on PSU's next possession and the Vikings were back on top 69-68 with 2:11 to play. 
 
Malik Wade hit a driving basket for CBU lead, but Hunter Woods came back and scored on a drive of his own with 1:31 left and PSU led again, 71-70.
 
The Lancers missed on their next possession, but Reid Nottage gathered in the offensive rebound and scored to give CBU a 72-71 lead with a minute to play.
 
Following a Viking missed shot California Baptist had a chance to extend its lead. The Lancers burned the clock before Taran Armstrong went to the basket with 17 seconds to play. Eyman swatted back his shot and rebounded the ball.
 
The Vikings raced up court and Saterfield buried a short running jumper in the lane with 8.2 seconds left to push the visitors to a 73-72 advantage. 
 
After a California Baptist timeout Armstrong drove the lane again, but missed his attempt. Johnson rebounded with 1.9 seconds left, made one of two free throws, and the Lancers were done.
 
"A lot of our play down the stretch was about our guy's character and how tough they are," said Viking Coach Jase Coburn. "They have made plays at key moments defensively and offensively."
 
Coburn got a big game from his big man, Eyman, and he was pleased.
 
"Jake just needed to find himself a little bit. We have always had confidence in him and he stepped up and made those plays. We trust him on defense and he can do a lot of things for us there.
 
"When we get a block and rebound like that, we are going," said Coburn of his team's transition to Saterfield's go-ahead shot. "We felt like we had the numbers going the other way so we went after it. I trust our guys to make the right play. With Jorell, they were (defending) him all night long, it was a matter of time for him to get loose and get to the paint."
 
The victory was a big one for Portland State to wrap up an extremely difficult non-conference slate. The Vikings will go into a short Christmas break, then Big Sky Conference play next week with a 6-7 record. That mark looks better when considering PSU played nine of 13 non-conference games away from home and not a single one of the 11 Division I opponents have a losing record.
 
"We knew going into this season, we needed toughness. We knew how tough this schedule would be, especially with our new guys. We are a lot better for it on the other side. I like how they responded," said Coburn. 
 
California Baptist drops to 8-5 overall. The Vikings stopped a three-game winning streak by the Lancers.
 
A number of Vikings made contributions as four players scored in double figures. Cameron Parker led the way with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals  and a blocked shot. Eyman pitched in a season-high 12 points on 6-8 from the field, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Saterfield and Woods each had 10 points and six rebounds in the game.
 
California Baptist was known for defending well going into the game as they had held opponents to just 62 points an outing. But it was the Vikings who made the difference on defense.
 
Portland State did not shoot well early, but stayed close. At one point in the first half, the Vikings held the Lancers without a point for more than four-and-a-half-minutes. Eventually, they forced 12 first-half turnovers by CBU. The game remained close with four ties and five lead changes before a 32-32 halftime tie.
 
The second half was a roller coaster as the teams traded big runs. Portland State came out of halftime on a 14-3 spurt. Over seven minutes the Vikings held the Lancers to 1-13 from the field and forced five turnovers.
 
In fact, CBU started the game 6-9 from the field, but made only five of their next 28 shots. They opened the second half 1-14 from the field, missing 10 straight shots over a one stretch.
 
PSU extended its run to 19-6 and went up 51-38 on a Bobby Harvey three-pointer with 11:30 to play in the game. 
 
But the Lancers came back, scoring the next 11 points in a row. CBU finally tied the game at 59-59 on a three-pointer by Nottage with 6:06 left. The Lancers got their first lead of the second half 63-61 with just over five minutes to play. 
 
The two teams volleyed the lead seven times after that.
 
Portland State finished 26-58 from the field (.448) and 19-22 at the free throw line (.864). California Baptist used free throws to help its second-half comeback, making 19-22 after halftime and 25-29 overall (.862). But the Lancers were only 20-58 from the field (.345) and had 17 turnovers.
 
CBU was led by 14 points from Nottage and 13 points from Armstrong.
 

GAME NOTES

• This game was the first meeting in history between Portland State and California Baptist, a member of the Western Athletic Conference… PSU is 18-15 all-time against teams from the WAC.
• The game had a total of eight ties and 14 lead changes. PSU led for a little over 21 minutes while California Baptist led for just over 14 minutes.
• Jacob Eyman is 13-18 from the field (.722) over the last three games averaging 9.3 points.
• Cameron Parker has 696 career assists to go with 1,069 career points. He is four assists away from 1,000 points and 700 assists. There are no current active players at the Division I level at those two marks.
• Big Sky Conference play begins Dec. 31 at Sacramento State.