Portland, OR – First place is safe for now.
Behind a career-high 24 points from
Keyon Kensie Jr. the Portland State Vikings won the battle for first place over Montana State, 63-54, at Viking Pavilion.
The teams entered the contest one-two in the Big Sky Conference standings, PSU at 7-1, MSU at 7-2. The eventual winner would have first place. That winner was the Vikings who reached the midway point of the conference season at 8-1 and have been at the top of the conference standings every day since the Jan. 1 opening of Big Sky play.
Kensie was a big reason for the win as he had his best day when the rest of the Viking offense was slow to start. The junior guard scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half as Portland State pulled away in a close game. Kensie was 9-16 from the field for the game, 6-8 in the second half, making all three three-point attempts and 3-4 free throws. He added six rebounds and career-highs of four assists and five steals.
"Keyon is a great athlete and great player," said Vikings Coach
Jase Coburn. "He really stepped up with a big game for us. We were resilient again when we needed to be to get the win."
Perhaps as important as the points were Kensie's steals. He had four in the second half to help spark a sluggish offense. In all, the Vikings made 10 total steals that led to 16 fast break points.
PSU's defense was vital to the win. The Vikings held MSU to a Division I opponent-low shooting mark of 19-56 (.339). The Bobcats, who were averaging over 10 three-point field goals per game, made just 5-25 from behind the arc. They entered the game averaging 79.2 points and were held 25 points below that number.
In recent games, Portland State had been starting slow and Saturday's matchup with the Bobcats was no different. PSU was 2-14 from the field to open the game and had only eight points through 11 minutes.
Finally, the Vikings got the pace to their liking. Kensie made a steal and a breakaway dunk, giving the Vikings a 12-10 lead with 8:31 left in the first half. A few minutes later, a steal and breakaway dunk by
Kelcy Phipps pushed the lead to 20-12.
PSU stalled out in the final five minutes of half and led 23-21 at the break. The Vikings were just 11-30 from the field (.367), the Bobcats were only 9-28 (.321). Combined three-point shooting was 2-21. So, not exactly what the fans were expecting from the top two teams in the Big Sky.
The level of play picked up significantly in the second half. And so did the excitement.
The Vikings opened the half 6-7 from the field, including 4-4 from three-point range - three of which came from Kensie. But Montana State stayed in touch and was down only 48-46 with just under eight minutes to play.
That's when the Vikings broke out on an 11-2 run, sparked by a pair of steals and breakaways for baskets by
Isaiah Williams and
Tre-Vaughn Minott.
Terri Miller Jr. followed with a three-pointer and hoop inside. Soon, the Vikings led 59-48 and with under five minutes to play were able to hold on from there.
Miller turned in 16 points with a dozen coming in the second half.
Jaylin Henderson had an off shooting game with only five points, but was a big contributor with a career-high 11 rebounds and eight assists.
PSU finished with a respectable 24-53 shooting mark (.453), 7-19 from three-point range (.368) and 8-12 at the line (.667).
Portland State improved to 14-6 on the season. Montana State dropped to 13-10, 7-3.
The Bobcats were led by Patrick McMahon and Jeremiah Davis with 16 points each
GAME NOTES
- Kelcy Phipps also had a big game for the Vikings, playing 27 minutes off the bench. He scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting and 2-3 from three-point range. His defense helped hold MSU's leading scorer, Jed Miller, to 3-14 shooting.
- The Vikings are now 8-2 in games at Viking Pavilion.
- The attendance of 1,795 was the largest of the season, and the most for a home game in six seasons.
- Portland State plays Idaho State on Monday night at Viking Pavilion. Tip off is 7 p.m and the game can be seen on ESPN+. Tickets are available at www.GoViks.com.
