MILWAUKEE, Wi. – The Wofford men's basketball team held a 40-29 lead at the end of the first half but could not hold to win the finale of the Cream City Challenge. The Terriers fell 79-74 to the Portland State Vikings on Sunday afternoon at the UWM Panther Arena.
 
The Terriers were outshot from the field, finishing the game at 44 percent (22-50) shooting while PSU shot 47.6 percent (30-63). Wofford continued its hot shooting from range knocking down 10 treys at a 40 percent clip. The Vikings closed the day at 30.8 percent. Wofford had a nice day from the charity stripe as the team shot 17-for-21 at an 81 percent clip – the highest percentage on 10 or more attempts since going 10-for-11 against Lipscomb last season. Corey Tripp paced the team as the senior guard made eight on 10 attempts.
 
Wofford was led by three double-digit scorers with Dillon Bailey scoring a new season-high 20 points. Corey Tripp followed behind with 17, along with Kyler Filewich posting 10. The team totaled 17 assists on 22 made field goals. Tripp and Justin Bailey paced the team with five helpers each.
 
The team lost the battle on the glass 34 to 30, giving up 14 offensive rebounds for 18 PSU points. Wofford pulled down 10 offensive rebounds to score nine. Portland State had a strong second half on the glass, notching nine offensive rebounds in the final 20 minutes. Kyler Filewich grabbed a team-high six rebounds. The Vikings claimed the advantage in the paint as well, scoring 42 points compared to Wofford's 18.
 
Wofford committed 16 turnovers on the game which resulted in 25 points for Portland State. The Terriers totaled eight takeaways on 12 Viking turnovers. Justin Bailey and Corey Tripp recorded two steals apiece to lead the team.
 
The Vikings scored the first two points of the game, but Wofford came roaring back to score eleven unanswered points and take an early 11-2 lead. Three-straight deep balls were the highlight of the run as Corey Tripp, Justin Bailey and Dillon Bailey cashed in from downtown. PSU ended the run with a dunk on the other end accompanied by a pair of made free throws to slim the margin to five.
 
Wofford continued to hold Portland State at hand with a sizeable lead. However, the Vikings were able to cut the deficit to three points with 9:46 remaining. The Terriers then used a couple of freebies from Belal El Shakery and Dillon Bailey's second of four three-pointers in the half to gain a 21-13 lead.
 
Portland State was resilient, coming within four points with 4:16 left in the half. A 12-2 run from Wofford helped, though, as the team went up 40-26 for Wofford's largest lead of the game. The Terriers would head into the break leading PSU 40-29. Wofford had a stellar first half on the defensive end, forcing Portland State to commit 10 turnovers and holding them to only one make from deep.
 
The teams traded baskets to open the second half, with Jeremy Lorenz nailing a triple to start the scoring for the Terriers. PSU cut the lead to seven points with just above 16 minutes of action left, but Wofford rattled off five-straight to lift the game back to a 12-point advantage in favor of the Terriers.
 
The Vikings used 12 unanswered points to tie the game at 51-51 with 11:59 remaining in the contest. The Wofford offense had its struggles, going without a point for almost four minutes of game time. Luke Flynn ended the drought with his first three-pointer of the day.
 
The trey ball by Flynn sparked a 12-3 run by the Terriers to give the team a 63-54 lead with 7:28 left in the second half. Portland State responded with a monstrous 18-4 run that bled all the way to eight seconds left in the game. The run started with just under five minutes remaining and saw Wofford score only two field goals in that span. The Vikings got hot from deep, hitting their last four attempts from three-point territory.
 
The Terriers close their six-game road stint and will look ahead to Sunday, December 1, when the team welcomes North Alabama to Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium at 4:00 p.m. The game will serve as part two of the Southern Conference and Atlantic Sun Conference scheduling alliance.