Sophomore Victor Sanders cheered his teammates from the sideline, his right hand covered in a large white cast.
The Vandals leading scorer was joined by teammate Perrion Callandret. The guard sat on the bench with his right leg extended, encased in a medical boot.
The two offensive leaders for Idaho were playing an unfamiliar role Saturday night, confined to the bench due to recent injuries.
In the absence of the Vandal playmakers, senior guard Chris Sarbaugh delivered on two pivotal free throws in the waning seconds of Saturday’s game to elevate Idaho to a 56-55 win over Portland State.
“I thought we showed our toughness tonight, no doubt about it,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “We battled every possession.”
Sophomore guard Chad Sherwood led the Vandals in the first half with 6 points, while freshman strong forward Nick Blair provided another 6 points while notching three rebounds.
Portland State received a strong first half from forward Cameron Forte, who scored 11 points and collected 8 rebounds. Sophomore forward Isaiah Pineiro contributed another 8 points and tallied 4 rebounds for the Vikings.
Both teams ended the first half with low shooting percentages.
The Vandals shot 32.4 percent from the floor in the twenty minutes of play to take a 26-24 lead at halftime. The Vikings converted just 8 of 25 shots from the field during that span.
“We have the same mentality regardless of who is playing,” Nate Sherwood said. “We came out and competed and executed our game plan.”
The two programs traded shots to begin the second half, before a 7-0 run by Portland State propelled the Vikings to a 46-41 lead.
Another Idaho scoring drought of three minutes allowed Portland State to seize the largest lead of the game at 50-43.
“We could have very easily quit there when we were down six or seven,” Verlin said. “But I thought we really dug in and found a way to get it done.”
The Vandals responded with consecutive baskets to pull within three points before a series of fouls sent Portland State to the free throw line.
With 1:45 to play, the Vandals trailed by just three points. Redshirt freshman Nate Sherwood was fouled during Idaho’s next possession and converted both shots to cut the Vikings lead to 55-54.
The Vandals forced a miss from Portland State on the ensuing possession but was unable to score, as Nate Sherwood’s hook shot bounced off the front of the rim.
Portland State regained possession of the basketball with 39.1 seconds left to play and attempted to run down the clock.
As the 30-second shot clock reached its final seconds, the Vikings threw up a late shot that clanked off the rim.
Sarbaugh was fouled while attempting to grasp the rebound in the ensuing scramble and was awarded a pair of free throws. The senior converted both attempts to give Idaho a 56-55 lead with 10.2 seconds left to play.
“We rep it (free throws) out I don’t know how many times during practice,” Sarbaugh said. “It was just all mental.”
The Vikings unsuccessfully tried to run a play during the ensuing possession and were forced to call a timeout with 2.8 seconds left in the game.
Junior guard Zach Gengler attempted a last second 3-pointer on a give-and-go for the Vikings, but the shot ricocheted off the rim.
“We knew that they were going to try and go to Forte,” Verlin said. “What we were trying to do is not allow a lob over the top to give them an easy basket.”
Verlin said that the Vandals chose to employ a traditional defense during the final play of the game.
“We put out our normal-rule defense and had Ty jump the ball,” Verlin said. “(I) said we have to contest every shot without a foul.”
Idaho will travel on the road to face Southern Utah in its next Big Sky matchup at 7 p.m. Thursday in Cedar City, Utah.
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom