Call it luck of the Irish. A last-second 3-pointer pushed the USD men’s basketball team over the Portland State in a 67-64 come-from-behind-victory at the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
In the closing seconds, with Toreros (20-13) tied at 64-all with the Vikings, Isaiah Wright passes the ball to an open Tyler Williams in the wing for a game-winning 3-pointer with one second left on the clock.
“Isaiah Wright made just an under control great basketball read and play and found a great shooter out on the wing,” USD coach Sam Scholl said. “And a strong-willed guy in Tyler who is ready to knock it down. Tyler is a shooter and he has worked so hard to prove he is a shooter and he has such a strong will. He wanted that shot and we knew it was going down when he took it.”
Portland State (20-14), which had a bye into the second round of the CIT, gave USD the full-court pressure on both ends and the Toreros struggled in the first half before finding their groove in the second half. USD was down by as much as 12 points in the first half but shaved the deficit down to nine points, 37-28, by halftime. Olin Carter III gave the Toreros their first lead, 43-42, in the second half when he sank a trey with 15:36 left in regulation.
Cameron Neubauer gave USD its biggest lead in the game when he made a 3-pointer to make it 50-45 with 11:42 left in the game. The Vikings rallied back to regain the lead with 53-52 with a layup by Derek Brown at the 9:13 mark. The Toreros kept the game to within three points until Williams made a trey for a four-point lead at 62-58 with 5:06 to go.
Portland State rallied back to tie at the game at 64-all with 1:13 to go before Williams sealed the victory with his second 3-pointer of the night.
Williams and Carter both lead USD in scoring with 16 points apiece. Neubauer had 13 and Isaiah Wright scored 12 for the Toreros.
Up next for USD is the CIT quarterfinal. The opponent and location of which have not been announced.