Southern Utah opens Big Sky with win over Portland St, 83-81

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Dre Marin’s 3-pointer with 37 seconds left earned Southern Utah an 83-81 victory over Portland State in its Big Sky Conference opener on Monday night.

The Thunderbirds held a narrow lead through the second half, but the Vikings went in front on Lamar Hamrick’s layup with 3:07 left. John Knight III answered at the basket to make it 78-77 with 2:29 remaining, but Hamrick raced to the basket to score again seconds later.

Harrison Butler put Southern Utah in front, 80-79, by converting two free throws with 1:18 left, but Matt Hauser answered with a jumper for the lead with just over a minute left.

Cameron Oluyitan put up 24 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished five assists to lead Southern Utah. Knight added 20 points and 11 boards and Marin finished with 14 points.

The Thunderbirds (8-4, 1-0) had a bye in the first round of conference play Saturday.

Holland Woods scored 25 points and dished five assists to lead Portland State (7-7, 1-1). Hauser added 20 points and Hamrick added 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench.