Bears Use Second-Half Surge to Defeat Portland State, 77-65

Saturday, February 14

Greeley, Colo.

2 p.m. MST

University of Northern Colorado

17-10,7-7Big Sky

Portland State

17-7,11-2Big Sky

Portland St.

Northern Colo.

2/14/2026 4:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Brooke Richards, Director of Strategic Communications

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado men's basketball used a decisive early second-half surge to pull away from Portland State, securing a 77-65 win Saturday afternoon at Bank of Colorado Arena.

Quinn Denker led the Bears (17-10, 7-7 Big Sky) with 23 points and seven assists, while Egan Shields added 12 points and five rebounds. Brock Wisne posted 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, and Ring Nyeri and Ibu Yamazaki chipped in 10 points apiece as UNC finished with a 41-34 edge on the glass and went 21-of-27 at the free-throw line.

Northern Colorado settled in after an early Portland State burst that produced a nine-point lead, 17-8, at the 12:15 mark of the first half. The Bears responded by turning defense into offense, using a 10-1 run to erase the deficit and pull even at 18. UNC kept answering throughout the period, highlighted by timely threes from Nyeri and Zach Bloch and steady interior play from Wisne and Shields, and carried a 37-34 advantage into the break.

Portland State (17-7, 11-2) opened the second half by tying the game at 37 on a Keyon Kensie Jr. three-pointer, but the Bears immediately grabbed control. Yamazaki sparked the push with a pair of threes during a 10-0 run, and Nyeri added a dunk as UNC stretched the margin to 47-37 with 17:14 remaining. The Bears continued to build separation behind Denker's downhill attacks and a steady parade to the free-throw line, eventually leading by as many as 12 late.

The Vikings made one last push behind Jaylin Henderson, who scored a game-high 29 points, trimming the gap to four on a three with 6:13 left (62-58). Northern Colorado steadied itself from there, getting key stops and timely buckets from Denker, then closing the final minutes at the stripe. A technical foul on Terri Miller Jr. at 3:58 helped UNC regain momentum, and Nyeri's late finish in the paint capped the closing stretch.

Bloch finished with nine points and four rebounds for the Bears, while Vincent Delano added five rebounds and three assists. Portland State was paced by Henderson's 29 and Miller's 18, with Tre-Vaughn Minott pulling down 11 rebounds.

RECORD WATCH: Brock Wisne moved into 13th place on UNC's all-time scoring list with 1,329 career points and now sits fifth in program history in field goals made with 554.

Zach Bloch continues to make steady progress across multiple career categories, ranking seventh all-time at UNC in three-pointers made (194) and sixth in three-point attempts (495), while sitting fifth in games played with 128, just five shy of the program record. Bloch also has 97 career steals, 16 away from cracking the all-time top 10, and is closing in on single-season marks as well, sitting in a tie for seventh in made three's with 84 and is five steals shy of the season top 10.

Quinn Denker remains one of the most productive playmakers in program history, currently ranking third on UNC's single-season assists list with 184 and continuing to move up the program's season-long distribution charts.

UP NEXT: The Bears will host Northern Arizona on Saturday, February 21 at 6 p.m. MST for Senior Night. Coverage will be available on EXPN+ and Pirate Radio.

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