Riverside, CA – Ismail Habib's half-court heave at the buzzer banked home and the Portland State Vikings banked another win to open the 2023-24 season, beating California Baptist, 66-63.
 
Habib's hero shot completed a 14-point, second-half comeback for the Vikings as they improved to 4-0 on the season, including three wins on the road.
 
Portland State went more than 36 minutes without a lead, but all that mattered was the final score. PSU trailed 58-44 with 9:51 to play in the game. From there, a 22-5 Viking run down the stretch produced an improbable victory.
 
PSU led 4-2 early in the game, but not again until Isaiah Johnson converted a spinning basket inside for a 63-61 lead with 30 seconds remaining in the game.
 
Yvan Ouedraogo was able to hit a shot in the lane for the Lancers with 2.4 seconds left to tie the game at 63.
 
Rather than call timeout, the Vikings played on. Johnson made a quick inbound pass to Habib, who raced up court and released the game-winning triple. Habib was contested as he pulled up just after crossing midcourt. His shot was on line but a touch long. It hit the backboard and banked home for the victory.
 
Habib was a big part of the closing run as he scored eight of PSU's 22 points down the stretch. The inbounder, Johnson, had the biggest game for the Vikings with a team-high 16 points (7-10 FG) and four rebounds.
 
"Ultimately, I trust our players. It's not a strategy to let them play (in a last-second situation). I honestly just trust them to make plays," said Viking Coach Jase Coburn. "Those guys (Habib and Johnson) really stepped up. For them it started on the defensive end. They were really good on that end and it got them started on the other end."

Just in case you didn't believe me.... #SCTop10 | #GoViks | #DefendTheShip https://t.co/uM2eBK226P pic.twitter.com/jDKwvVIVSw

— Mike Lund (@mikelund65) November 18, 2023

 
In fact, PSU's defense was vital to the victory. In the closing rally, the Vikings held California Baptist to 1-11 from the field over nine minutes prior to Ouedraogo's late bucket.
 
"We know our identity is as a defensive team. One of our goals was to make them take one shot and out. We went down (by 14) and didn't give up. We were patient and we gave ourselves a chance to make the game turn," said Coburn.
 
"To win on the road against Cal Baptist is big. They are a really freaking good team."
 
Portland State is now 4-0 on the season and has won the first game of the Lancer Joust Tournament at CBU Events Center.
 
PSU has started 4-0 five different times in its 28-season history as a member of the Big Sky Conference, but never 5-0. The Vikings face Cal Poly on Saturday and St. Thomas on Sunday.
Portland State recovered from a sluggish first half of offense to pull out the victory. The Lancers broke away from a 10-10 tie midway through the half. A 13-2 run over a span of five minutes gave CBU a 23-12 lead. PSU trimmed it back to 34-29 by halftime.
 
With the exception of Johnson, the Vikings struggled to score. He was 5-6 from the field and had 11 points, but the rest of the squad shot only 6-22 and did not make a three-point field goal.
 
Both teams shot 11-28 from the field in the half. The difference was four more free throws and a three-pointer by the Lancers.
 
After halftime, California Baptist got going from the field. Over a span of five minutes, the Lancers hit five three-pointers, with three of them coming from Blondeau Tchoukuiegno. A Brantley Stevenson three with 9:51 left gave the Lancers their largest lead at 58-44 and it looked bleak for the Vikings.
 
PSU finally responded with threes of their own. KJ Allen, Jorell Saterfield and Habib hit three-balls in an 11-point run, closing it to 58-55 at the 7:02 mark. Then, Kendall Munson scored inside with 6:06 left and it was 13 in a row.
 
Allen finally tied the game for the Vikings at 60-60 on a three-point field goal with 4:17 to play.
 
The teams traded free throws in the closing moments, but otherwise couldn't score. Finally, after stopping a Dominique Daniels Jr. drive with 40 seconds left, Johnson rebounded, then on the other end got the ball inside, spun and scored. PSU was up 63-61 with 30 seconds left. It was the Vikings' first lead in 36:05 of game time.
 
California Baptist worked for a tying shot, but the ball was knocked out of bounds with 6.6 seconds left. On the inbound, Ouedraogo worked inside for an eight-footer to tie with 2.4 seconds left.
 
That set up the final play and a heavenly heave from Habib.
 
In addition to Johnson, Munson was the only other Viking in double figures with 10 points. Habib scored nine points, Allen had eight points and nine rebounds.
 
PSU shot 12-24 from the field in the second half, including 6-11 from three-point range and 7-9 at the line.
 
Tchoukuiegno scored 18 points to lead the Lancers. Ouedraogo scored 16 points with nine rebounds.
 
California Baptist is now 2-1 on the season and will face St. Thomas tomorrow.
 

GAME NOTES

• Once again, Portland State's bench played big with 29 points and 14 rebounds.
• The last time Portland State started a season 4-0 was in 2017-18. PSU has done so five times in the Big Sky Conference era. PSU once started 5-0 in 1976-77.
• Portland State is holding opponents to 61.8 points per game this season.
• Portland State defeated California Baptist, 74-72, last season in Riverside. That game was decided by a Jorell Saterfield basket with 8.2 seconds left in the game.
• Portland State will play Cal Poly on Saturday, then St. Thomas on Sunday. Both games tip off at 2:30 p.m. and are available for viewing on YouTube. Click on the YouTube icon on the Portland State Men's Basketball at GoViks.com for the links.