New Orleans, LA – A pair of free throws with 2.6 seconds left by Tulane's Asher Woods allowed the Green Wave to escape with a 63-61 victory over a hard-charging Portland State team at Fogelman Arena.
 
The Vikings struggled mightily on offense for most of the night, but ignited in the final five minutes. Trailing 53-41 with 5:46 remaining in the game, the Vikings got a flashy finish from Keyon Kensie Jr. and Jaylin Henderson bringing them all the way to a 61-61 tie in the closing seconds.
 
Kensie scored 12 points over a four-minute stretch and pulled the Vikings within 59-55 with 1:46 to play. Henderson then scored six straight in the final minute. 
 
Down 61-59, Kensie made a steal with 15 seconds left and raced up the court for a tying basket. He missed on a drive, but Henderson was there to follow the shot in with 9.9 seconds left, tying the game at 61. 
 
With calling timeout, Tulane went right back at the Vikings for a winning basket. But Rowan Brumbaugh's drive was blocked out of bounds by Tre-Vaughn Minott with four seconds to go. PSU was called for a foul on the ensuing inbounds play, sending Woods to the line for the winning shots. The Vikings' desperation heave at the buzzer was off line and the Green Wave held on for the win.
 
The loss nullified a pair of big games by Kensie and Terri Miller Jr. Kensie scored a career-high 22 points on 9-12 from the field, 2-3 three-pointers and 2-3 free throws while grabbing eight rebounds. Miller also scored 22 points with seven rebounds as the tandem combined for 44 of the Vikings' 61 points.
 
Portland State's loss was its third in four games. PSU finishes non-conference play at 6-5. Tulane improved to 9-4 on the season.
 
PSU shot .411 from the field, but needed to make seven of eight shots in their rally to do so. PSU was 5-20 on three-pointers.
 
Tulane shot only .360 from the field, including 2-17 on threes, but had a huge advantage at the free throw line. Tulane went into the game having shot 70 more free throws than their opponents - and at a high rate (.766) - so far this season. That trend continued against the Vikings as the Green Wave made 25-30 (.833). PSU only got to the line for 16 shots and made 10 (.625). 
 
A lid was on both baskets early in the game. Tulane started 3-17 from the field, including nine straight three-point misses. The Vikings opened at 3-12 with seven straight missed shots.
 
The teams combined to miss the first 16 threes, with 11 misses by the Green Wave, before Henderson finally hit one, giving the Vikings a 15-12 lead. Henderson's triple was part of a 14-3 run for PSU as the Vikings jumped ahead 20-13. 
 
Tulane bounced back with an 11-3 run to close out the half and led 24-23. 
 
Tulane found something at the break. The Green Wave made its first three shots to extend the run to 18-3, and the lead to 31-23. Their largest lead was 12, on two occasions, including the 12-point advantage with 5:46 to go.
 
Woods led Tulane with 21 points, hitting 6-9 from the field and 9-9 at the line. The rest of his teammates made only 12-51 shots from the field.
 

GAME NOTES

• Jaylin Henderson scored 11 points with four rebounds and five assists… Tre-Vaughn Minott had six points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and three steals.
• Neither team had much production off the bench, with Tulane getting nine points and Portland State getting none.
• This was the first game this season that PSU has lost when out-shooting its opponent from the field (5-1)... it was also the first game in which PSU did not get a dunk.
• The Vikings are 2-4 in road games.
• Tulane, playing in the Central Time Zone, is Portland State's longest road trip of the season (2,529 miles)... this was only the second meeting all-time between the schools and the first since 1996.
• Portland State will be off until Jan. 1 when it opens Big Sky Conference play at Weber State. The Vikings play at Idaho State on Jan. 3, then open Big Sky play at home on Jan. 10 against Sacramento State.