Portland State holds off Southern Utah 88-86

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Cameron Forte scored 25, Isaiah Pineiro 19, and each made a pair of free throws late that helped Portland State close the season with an 88-86 win over Southern Utah on Saturday night.

Forte's free throws with 24 seconds left and Pineiro's at 11.7 seconds pushed the Vikings lead both times back to three. Calaen Robinson made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left to make it 88-83 and John Marshall's 25-footer for Southern Utah capped the scoring at the buzzer.

The Vikings and Thunderbirds went back and forth between a 60-all tie at the 10:32 mark and Trey Kennedy's 3-pointer that tied it at 78 with 2:14 left. Pineiro then had a key sequence for Portland State with a 3-point play that gave the Vikings the lead for good and a blocked shot that led to Donivine Stewart's free throw and an 82-78 lead.

Robinson and Zach Gengler added 14 points each for Portland State (12-17, 8-10 Big Sky), which earned the eighth seed and will meet ninth-seeded Northern Colorado in the conference tournament on Tuesday.

James McGee led Southern Utah (5-23, 3-15) with 17 points. The Thunderbirds, as the No. 10 seed, will face seventh-seeded Portland State.