Following three road losses, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team will return to the friendly confines of Hornet Gym for a pair of games this weekend. The Hornets will begin the stretch against Eastern Washington on Friday, Mar. 1. The game will tip off at 7:05 p.m. PST.

Sacramento State enters the game with a 9-17 overall record and a 3-9 mark in Big Sky Conference games. The Hornets are now in seventh place in the Big Sky and are battling with Portland State for the final spot into the Big Sky Tournament. If the Hornets qualify, it will be the team’s first postseason appearance since moving to Div. I.

Eastern Washington has already locked up a berth in the Big Sky Tournament. The Eagles are 15-11 overall and 9-3 in conference games. EWU has been on fire since defeating Sacramento State on Feb. 2 and have won six-consecutive games.

• Meet the Coaches

Jerome Jenkins returns for his second season as head coach at Sacramento State. Jenkins became the 12th coach in the 53-year history of Hornet basketball when he was named to the position on March 14, 2000.

The 34-year old coach came to Sacramento State prior to the 1999-2000 season and served as the team’s top assistant coach. Jenkins previously had worked two seasons as an assistant at Eastern Washington. Prior to work at EWU, Jenkins spent four seasons at Diablo Valley College.

A native of Los Angeles, Jenkins was an all-conference point guard at L.A. City College as a freshman before playing his sophomore season at Southwestern Oregon C.C. He then transferred to Regis University in Denver, Colo., where he played his final two seasons. While with the Rangers, he led the team in assists and steals and was twice named all-conference.

Jenkins picked up his first career victory on Nov. 17 when the Hornets topped Bethany College, 103-49. He currently has a 13-39 career record.

Eastern Washington is led by Ray Giacoletti. In his second season as head coach of the Eagles, Giacoletti owns a 32-21 overall record.

A Look at the Hornets

• Playoff Outlook

Sacramento State enters the week in seventh place in the Big Sky. The team is one game behind Portland State for the sixth and final playoff berth. PSU plays at Northern Arizona on Friday night before making the trip to Sacramento.

If the Hornets are going to advance into the postseason one of the two scenarios has to happen: 1) Sacramento State wins its two games this week. 2) Both the Hornets and PSU lose on Friday night and Sacramento State wins on Saturday.

While five teams have clinched playoff berths, the seedings are far from set. Montana State and Eastern Washington are battling for the right to host. In either case, both schools will have a first round bye. Weber State, Montana and Northern Arizona all have a chance to finish third.

Idaho State is the only team that has been eliminated from the playoff race.

• Final Performances

Rene Jacques has been a fixture in the Sacramento State lineup over the past four years. This weekend, however, the senior will be playing his final two regular season games for the Hornets.

Jacques came to the team in 1997-98 from St. Joseph’s HS in Alameda, Calif. During his first season, he helped the team end a 34-game losing streak when he scored 15 points against Montana. That same season, he finished second in the league’s voting for Freshman of the Year.

Jacques enters the week having played 105 games in a Hornet uniform. He has missed just one contest during his career due to illness or injury. He ranks in the top 10 at Sacramento State in career games, starts, points, field goals attempts, free throws attempts, assists and steals.

Seniors Troy Selvey and Jay Richardson will also be honored prior to Saturday’s game.

• What Leg Injury

After scoring just 13 points over the past eight games, Derek Lambeth tied for the team lead with 15 points against Montana State. The junior, who had been plagued by a knee injury, scored all of his points in the second half against the Bobcats.

Lambeth opened the year as one of the team’s five starters until he was forced to miss the game at Easter Washington due to injury. From the point, the Oakland, Calif., native has struggled to regain his shooting touch. In fact, Lambeth had not scored more than three points in a game until facing Montana State.

• One Step Away

The Sacramento State men’s basketball team is just one victory away from setting a couple of school records. With its next win, the Hornets will earn their 10th overall and fourth league victory.

The team tied the overall and league Div. I-era record with its win over Idaho State. The previous best overall mark of 9-18 was held by the 1999-2000 team. Both the 1998-99 and 1999-00 teams won three Big Sky games.

The Hornets are also still searching for their first conference road win. Sacramento State has lost all 47 games played away from home since becoming a member of the league.

• Looking to Avoid the Three-peat

If the Hornets are going to be successful this weekend, the team will need strong efforts from Joe Dawson and Joel Jones. The juniors enter the week as the team’s top two scorers at 14.5 and 11.5 points per game, respectively.

Last week, however, the Big Sky state proved to be unkind for the pair. Against Montana, both players were held to seven points. Montana State did a better defensive job, holding Dawson to five and limiting Jones to four.

After 12-straight games with at least 10 points, Dawson has record just one double-digit outing over the last five games.

Jones has picked up much of the slack as the two games in Montana snapped a streak of five games where he averaged 17.8 ppg.

• More Notes

Jimmy White has averaged 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds over the last three games...the Hornets are 7-2 when Cedric Thompkins scores 10 or more points...Joe Dawson is just three three-pointers shy of tying the school’s Div. I-era record of 65 set by Eric Carey in 1995-96.

• A Look at the Last Meeting

Chris Hester and Alvin Snow each scored 25 points and Darren Cooper added 14 to help lead Eastern Washington to an 87-67 victory over Sacramento State on Feb. 2 at Reese Court.

The Hornets held just one lead, 3-1, during the game. From that point, EWU went on a 16-2 run and never looked back. Sparking the early surge was the play of Hester and Snow. Hester scored six of the team’s 16 points while Snow added five. The Eagles stretched the advantage to 17, 29-12, before Sacramento State began to respond.

The Hornets closed within 10, 31-21, following a pair of threes by Joel Jones with 3:40 left in the first half. The two teams then traded baskets for the rest of the period until EWU went into the intermission with a 14-point edge (40-26).

The Eagles built their lead to 17 on three occasions early in the second half before Sacramento State, once again, pulled within 10. The Hornets’ final push came with 15:51 left in the game when Joe Dawson scored two of his team-high 24 points on a layup. EWU responded with seven-straight points to put the game out of reach.

Dawson’s 24 points capped a weekend in which he scored 54 points. The junior, who tallied a career-high 30 at Portland State on Friday, made 7-of-13 shots from the field including three three-pointers.

Junior Joel Jones was the only other Sacramento State player to crack double-figures. Jones was 5-of-13 from the field for 12 points. Cedric Thompkins led the team with nine rebounds.

Hester led all players with 11 field goals on 17 attempts. He also grabbed nine boards. Snow was 10-for-13 overall including four treys. T.J. Williams led all players with 10 rebounds.

A Look at the Eagles

• Eastern Washington is riding a six-game winning streak heading into the week. The Eagles can host the Big Sky Tournament with a pair of wins and a loss by Montana State against Montana.

• Junior Chris Hester continues to lead the team with 13.0 ppg. Hester has raised his game in the Big Sky where he averages 16.8 ppg.

Sophomore Alvin Snow is second on the team with 11.2 ppg.

• As a team, EWU is shooting .533 in conference games. The Eagles are also making 41.9 percent of their three-point shots and 71.0 percent of their free throws in league games.

The Series

• Eastern Washington holds a 12-3 advantage in the all-time series. With its win over Sacramento State on Feb. 2, EWU has now won four-straight meetings against the Hornets.

Who’s Up Next

• The Hornets will close out the regular season against Portland State. Depending on Friday’s results, the winner of the game will likely capture the last berth in the Big Sky Tournament.

Big Sky Notes

• Portland State’s Jeb Ivey and Montana State’s James Clark were named co-Big Sky Players of the Week.

Ivey scored 25 against Idaho State and 20 vs. Weber State.

Clark tallied a career-high 24 points against Northern Arizona and added 18 against Sacramento State.