Portland State University’s men’s basketball team secured the Big Sky Conference regular season championship outright after defeating Weber State 84-60 in their final game of the season at Viking Pavilion. This marks the program’s first outright title in 18 years and its third since joining the league three decades ago.
With this win, Portland State finished the regular season with a 19-10 overall record and a 13-5 record in conference play. The victory also earned them the number one seed for the upcoming Big Sky Conference Tournament, which will take place from March 7 to 11 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. The Vikings will begin tournament play on Sunday, facing either Idaho State or Northern Arizona.
Vikings head coach Jase Coburn reflected on the significance of clinching the title at home: “I think this was all meant to be,” said Coburn. “We could have won games previously to sew this up, but to be able to do it here on Senior Night in front of our people meant everything. We wanted to win those games, but our team didn’t hang their heads when we didn’t. Just being back home we felt like ‘we are going to do this.’ There was never a doubt in my mind that we would make this happen.”
Coburn also emphasized what this achievement means for both current and former members of the program: “It means everything for the program and this athletic department. It means you can achieve success at Portland State,” he said. “One of my goals has always been to make the former players proud. Since we have done this, I just hope all those former players are proud to be Vikings.”
In Monday’s game, Portland State led throughout and widened their advantage steadily after breaking a tie midway through the first half with an 11-point run sparked by Terri Miller Jr., who contributed six points during that stretch. The team ended the first half leading 43-26.
Miller played a key role despite needing stitches during part of the game due to an injury sustained before halftime. He finished with 18 points, five rebounds, six assists, three steals, and three blocked shots. Jaylin Henderson led all scorers with 20 points along with ten assists and seven rebounds; Tre-Vaughn Minott added ten points and nine rebounds; Keyon Kensie Jr. scored thirteen points.
The Vikings maintained control throughout the second half as Henderson and Kensie picked up where Miller left off while he received medical attention. PSU shot over 55% from the field for the game and set a new school record for dunks in a single season with their total now at 124.
Other notable performances included senior Isaiah Williams making his first start of the season during his final home game as well as Henderson achieving his third double-double (points-assists) of this campaign.
Weber State fell to a final record of 16-15 (10-8 Big Sky), ending up tied for fourth place in conference standings alongside Montana and Northern Colorado.
Portland State had previously won Big Sky regular season titles in both 2005 and 2008 as well as tournament championships in 2008 and 2009.
The Vikings’ quarterfinal matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ on Sunday evening.
