Milwaukee, WI – The three-pointers arrived just in time for the Portland State Vikings as they turned in a brilliant come-from-behind victory over Wofford on the final day of the Cream City Challenge, 79-74.
 
The Vikings were a paltry 4-22 from three-point range and trailing by six points with less than five minutes to play against the Terriers. But, guards Jaylin Henderson and Ismail Habib combined to hit four straight from distance to close out the game and highlight a comeback win.
 
The Vikings trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half and after closing the gap, out-scored the Terriers, 18-7, down the stretch.

"Ish and Jaylin are really good shooters. They can really score, so I had complete confidence in those guys. They hit big shots today," said Vikings Coach Jase Coburn.
 
Forward Isaiah Johnson proved to be the biggest hero for the Vikings, turning in the most complete performance of his three-year career at Portland State. Johnson scored a career-high 21 points on 9-12 from the field and 3-5 at the line. But, just as important were his game-high nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Johnson scored four points and had a steal in the final minute as the Vikings took the lead and pulled away for the win.

"He played like a man-child. He is capable of having those moments where you just think 'wow,'" said Coburn. "We really liked the match up he had had, but it came down to his execution. He played like a leader. It was tremendous leadership on his part."
 
Henderson scored 18 points for the Vikings. Habib, who had been only 1-9 from the field in the game but is known for his late-game heroics, hit his final two three-point attempts.
 
Portland State was on a salvage mission on Sunday after losing the first two games of the Cream City Challenge, hosted by Wisconsin-Milwaukee and UWM Panther Arena. And salvage they did, after trailing for more than 36 minutes in the game the Vikings took the lead on a Habib three with 1:43 to go and led the rest of the way.
 
The victory improves Portland State's record to 3-3 on the season, with five of six games being played on the road. Wofford, which had split its first two games of the tournament, dropped to 2-4 with the loss.

"Ultimately, we had a rough weekend up until this point," said Coburn. "These events are hard and those first two games were hard for us. We felt getting into game three we had to be us. I'm proud of the guys for stepping up down the stretch. It shows the toughness we have on our team and what we are capable of doing."
 
The Vikings fell behind quickly, 11-2, after the Terriers hit three early three-pointers. Johnson kept PSU in the game with eight points, a rebound, a steal and a block after that. Following Wofford's initial burst, both teams struggled to shoot well throughout the half.
 
The Terriers got to halftime with a 40-29 lead. The difference was 7-15 three-point shooting for Wofford to only 1-7 for Portland State. Dillon Bailey made 4-5 threes for the Terriers.
 
Trailing 51-39 with just over 15 minutes to play, the Vikings went on a 10-point run. Johnson sandwiched a pair of driving hoops around three-pointers from Henderson and Habib. His second was a steal-and-score that led to a Wofford timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound, got a putback and tied the game at 51-51 with 11:59 to play, making it 12 straight points for the Vikings.
 
The Terriers came back with a 12-3 run of their own, including a three-pointer by Bailey. They led 63-54 with 7:28 to play.

Wofford was up 67-61 when a driving score by Shane Nowell with 4:28 to go started PSU's final push. The Vikings were only 4-22 from three-point range at the point before Habib and Henderson made their final four attempts of the game. The Vikings scored 50 points in the second half, shooting 19-37 from the field after intermission (.514).
 
Good shooting was essential to the comeback as Wofford made 13-26 three-point shots in the game, including 6-11 after halftime. Bailey led the Terriers with 20 points, hitting 6-9 from behind the arc.
 
PSU was 30-63 from the field for the game (.476), and out-rebounded the Terriers, 34-30.
 

GAME NOTES

• Senior guard Qiant Myers had a strong game with 10 points (5-8 FG), six rebounds, six assists and a steal for the Vikings… Senior center Tre-Vaughn Minott blocked a career-high four shots and had 10 in the three-game tournament.
• Portland State was facing Wofford for the first time in program history.
• The game was the 100^th in the coaching career of Jase Coburn at Portland State (46-54).
• PSU returns home for a game next Saturday against Utah Tech. The Vikings and Trailblazers meet at 5 p.m. at Viking Pavilion. It will be the second game of a doubleheader featuring the Viking women and UC Davis (2 p.m.). Both games can be seen on ESPN+.