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Northern Colorado
1/14/2023 | 7 p.m.
Jan. 14 (Sat) / 7 p.m.
Northern Colorado
Portland, OR – Hunter Woods! Hunter Woods! Hunter Woods! Say it three times. Then, say it three more.
A buzzer-beating three-point field goal by the Portland State junior forward had Viking fans dancing in the aisles as Portland State beat Northern Arizona, 75-74, in a Big Sky Conference game at Viking Pavilion. In fact, Woods made two late three-pointers as PSU pulled off a miraculous finish.
Woods’ shots both came in the final 10 seconds, bringing the Vikings back from five points down to win. Ironically, Woods had just missed a tying three-pointer a minute earlier. But that did not prevent him from taking the two biggest shots of the night.
“It’s next play mentality,” said Woods. “Shooters shoot. I got my shot, I missed it, but I knew I had to flush it quickly because the opportunity might have presented itself to get the next shot.”
The opportunity presented itself not once, but twice, and Woods was ready.
Portland State trailed most of the second half and was resorting to fouls in the final minute.
NAU’s Oakland Fort swished a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left and the Lumberjacks led, 73-67.
Viking point guard Cameron Parker raced back up court with the ball, got to the rim and scored to make it 73-69 with 19 seconds left.
PSU then fouled Nik Mains who made one of two free throws with 17.8 seconds remaining.
Again, the Vikings pushed the ball up court, Parker came off a Woods’ screen at the top of the arc and pitched it back to Woods on the wing. He swished the three-pointer with 9.8 seconds to play. PSU now trailed only 74-72.
This is where it gets crazy. Mains goes to the line again and misses both free throws with 8.4 seconds on the clock. However, Carson Towt grabbed the offensive rebound for the ‘Jacks. He was fouled and NAU had two more free throws with 7.1 seconds to go.
Then, Towt missed both free throws.
Woods rebounded, quickly passed to Parker and it was a footrace to the other end. Parker went left and Woods went right. When pressure got to Parker just before the three-point line he winged a pass cross court to Woods directly in front of the PSU bench. Woods let fly just before the buzzer sounded and ripped the net. The bench and fans erupted and the Vikings pulled out an improbable 75-74 win.
“I was ready for the moment and my point guard Cam made the play, got me the ball and I knocked down the shot,” said Woods. “I shoot these every day. It was just another rep, so just make the shot, knock it down.”
Coach Jase Coburn wouldn’t have had it any other way to close the game.
“Even though he missed one earlier, we were coming right back to him on a play,” said Coburn of the first three-pointer off the pick-and-pop play. “He knocked it down, then he made a huge one at the end. He is shooting it well and the whole team has confidence in him.
“Hunter was engaged the whole game and ready for those moments at the end. He is a high-character person and a really good basketball player.”
Woods finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds and three steals. He made 5-10 from the field, 4-8 from three-point range and 4-5 at the line.
Parker scored 19 points with a season-high 11 assists, six rebounds and two steals. Jorell Saterfield added 11 points and Keshaun Saunders scored 10.
Portland State started the game with a lot of horsepower, but somewhere along the way the engine stalled out. Northern Arizona played a near flawless second half to come from behind and lead for nearly all of the final 17 minutes. Just not the final second.
The Vikings are the Big Sky Conference leader in turnovers forced. They padded those stats early forcing 11 turnovers in the first 13 minutes and jumped out to a 29-12 lead.
PSU was up 36-26 at halftime.
Northern Arizona found something in the locker room though. The Lumberjacks scored 13 straight points to open the second half, including three straight three-pointers to quickly take a 39-36 lead. It was a 27-7 turnaround for the ‘Jacks over a 10-minute span of game time and the Vikings were stunned.
NAU held the lead the rest of the way except for a brief PSU lead at 53-52 on a Parker three-point play. It was short-lived as the ‘Jacks continued to hit big shots.
NAU shot 52% in the second half, had a big rebound advantage, and cut down on its turnovers to take control of the game. But the Vikings made the big shots at the end.
Portland State won its second game in a row and improved to 8-9 on the season, 2-2 in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings are 4-1 at home this season.
NAU was led by 19 points and 16 rebounds from Towt. Xavier Fuller had 19 points and six rebounds.
The ‘Jacks drop to 5-13 on the season, 1-4 in the Big Sky.
GAME NOTES
- Kendall Munson blocked a season-high four shots, all coming in the first half.
- PSU has beaten Northern Arizona three straight times and in eight of the last 11 meetings.
- Portland State was playing its first home game in 26 days, and second in 40 days. PSU will return to Viking Pavilion on Saturday night, hosting Northern Colorado. Game time is 7 p.m. and it can be seen on ESPN+.