Portland, OR – Come hell or high water… or in this case, blizzard… the Vikings were going to win a basketball game. And win they did, beating Weber State, 69-66, at Viking Pavilion on a frigid day in Portland.
 
While snow, sleet and wind pelted the Rose City, PSU played some of its best basketball of the season in the warm confines of The Ship. The Vikings led by as many as 24 points in the second half before the Wildcats stormed back to within one in the final minute. That's when Jorell Saterfield buried a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left for a three-point lead and eventual victory as a late three attempt by Weber State bounced away harmlessly.
 
"We played with a lot of confidence, especially in the first half," said Vikings Coach Jase Coburn. "We made some adjustments on the off day and credit to the guys for executing the plan. It's not easy to change at that point with a whole new plan."
 
It was a win the Vikings needed as they improved to 11-6 on the season, 2-2 in the Big Sky. And it was a big improvement over a disappointing performance in a loss to Idaho State on Thursday. 
 
Weber State, a near consensus pick to win the Big Sky Conference in preseason polling, dropped to 11-6 on the year and is also 2-2 in league.
 
KJ Allen had a big game for the Vikings. The senior forward scored 13 points and hauled down 14 big rebounds, a career high for him and the most by a Viking this season.
 
Saterfield finished with 13 points and Bobby Harvey was hot early with 12 points. 
 
But it was the bench play of Isiah Kirby and Hayden Curtiss that really made a difference. Kirby scored team-high 14 points on 7-8 shooting in 19 minutes. The hustle plays of Curtiss included two blocks, two steals and two rebounds and ignited the Vikings in the first half.
 
"They were awesome," said Coburn of the tandem off the bench. "Credit to Hayden, who hasn't played much recently, but he was ready to go. I had a lot of confidence that he would get in the game and play well. And Kirby… we made an adjustment with his role and it paid off. I'm proud of those guys for hanging tough and really stepping up for us."
                                                                       
Weber State rolled out to a 15-8 lead, but PSU owned the rest of the first half. The Vikings out-scored the Wildcats 34-11 for a 42-26 lead at the break. More importantly, they found their missing shooting touch of the past few games. At one point, the Vikings made 11-14 field goals as they passed the Wildcats by.
 
Harvey hit four three-pointers in the first half for 12 points. Allen scored six points with five rebounds. And Curtiss and Kirby had key minutes off the bench.
 
Meanwhile, all the Vikings were shooting well. PSU was 16-26 from the field at halftime (.615), while the Wildcats were 12-34 (.353).
 
"We have great shooters and guys that can finish inside and it all came together for us in the first half," said Coburn.
 
The Vikings scored the first eight points of the second half to extend a run to 25-3 over a span of seven minutes They held their largest lead at 50-26.
 
PSU was up 59-37 with just over 12 minutes to go and appeared to have a handle on the game. But the Wildcats had a run of their own scoring 13 in a row, seven of which came from Dillon Jones. That closed the margin to single digits. 
 
Kirby scored on a drive with 5:45 left in the game and the Vikings were still up 67-55. Then, the sub-freezing wind chills in the Portland area seemed to blow in and cool off PSU. Portland State did not score again until Saterfield's clutch free throws with 13 seconds left.
 
Dyson Koehler scored seven points in another 11-0 Wildcat rally down the stretch. His free throws with 24 seconds left closed the margin to 67-66. 
 
Weber State had to foul and Saterfield had an answer with a pair of swishes. Jones' desperation three-pointer for WSU at the buzzer missed and the Vikings were in the win column.
 
PSU finished at 26-58 from the field for a .448 mark. That was their best shooting in seven games. Weber State was only 25-65 from the field for a .385 percentage.
 
PSU's bench out-scored the Wildcats' bench, 20-4.
 
Koehler led the Wildcats with 21 points. Jones added 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
 

GAME NOTES

• Portland State is now 5-1 at home this season. 
• Portland State goes on the road next week to play at Northern Arizona on Thursday and Northern Colorado on Saturday.