The NCAA Division-I Portland State Vikings narrowly escaped with a 61-60 (box score) victory over the Pioneers Wednesday night at the Rose Garden. Tyson Papenfuss scored 14 points to lead the Pioneers.
Portland State owned the first half, taking a 32-20 lead into the break.

The two teams played the game at the Rose Garden Arena, home to the Portland Trailblazers, after a flood at the Stott Center gym forced the game to have to find a new location.

Both teams struggled coming out of the break with Portland hitting just two field goals in the first five minutes of the second half while the Pioneers failed to score from the floor. With the Vikings leading by 17, 38-21, with 14:16 remaining, Tyson Papenfuss (junior, Clackamas, Ore.) ended the Pioneers' shooting drought. Twenty seconds later, the Vikings countered with a three to take their largest lead of the game, 41-23. The Pioneers found it easier to score, putting up thirteen points over the next six minutes, but couldn't cut into the Viking lead, with Portland State holding a healthy 50-36 advantage with eight minutes left in the game. Back-to-back three pointers by Mark Robinowitz (senior, Portland, Ore.) suddenly knocked the Portland State lead down to single digits, 50-42 with 6:12 remaining. With Portland State unable to get an defensive stop, the Pioneers cut the lead to six, 54-48, on a Robinowitz jumper with four minutes remaining.

Portland State extended the lead back out to ten, 58-48, with three minutes remaining, before the Pioneers started chipping away again. An and-one layup by Thomas Tillery (senior, Portland, Ore.) followed by another pair of freethrows made it a five point game once again, this time with 2:05 on the clock. The two teams traded jump shots. The Vikings missed a shot with 1:01 left on the game clock. A Mark Robinowitz rebound set up a Gene Rivera (senior, Kahului, Hawaii) layup to make it a three point game, 60-57, with 38 seconds remaining. After a quick foul, the Vikings converted on one of their two freethrow to go up by four. Thomas Tillery was fouled on a layup, giving him another and-one opportunity, which he converted to makes it a one point game, 61-60 with :16 seconds left on the clock. 

The Pioneers pressured the inbounds pass. Portland State got the ball across the midline only to have the ball stripped away by Gene Rivera with seven seconds left in the game. The Pioneers raced down court, setting for the final shot. With the game clock expiring, they got the ball into the hands of Joey Toboni (senior, San Francisco, Calif.) who threw up a desperation three from the left corner that did not go through. Portland State escaped with a 61-60 victory. 

Tyson Papenfuss fueled the Pioneer second-half comeback, scoring 14 points. Mark Robinowitz scored 13 for the Pioneers, ten of those coming after halftime. Gene Rivera had six points, six rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal.

With the loss, the Pioneers fall to 3-2, with both of their losses coming to NCAA Division I opponents.

The Pioneers take a break for finals. They return to action on Friday, December 21 playing in a tournament in Burlingame, Calif. They are scheduled to take on Golden State Baptist at 1pm on the 21st and UC Santa Cruz on Saturday the 22, also at 1pm.