Prior to Saturday''s victory over NAU, the Hornets (10-11, 4-4) swept Montana State and Montana at home for the first time in school history. Sacramento State, which set the school record for most Big Sky victories (five) last season, will attempt to inch above the .500 mark in conference play for the first time since the team was 2-1 during the 1999-00 season. Sacramento State''s victory over the Lumberjacks also snapped a seven-game losing streak on the road and a five-game road losing streak against conference teams dating back to last season.

Sacramento State is currently in fourth place in the Big Sky standings, its highest placing this late in the season. The Hornets are just one game out of second place, where Northern Arizona and Idaho State sit with 5-3 records. The league''s hottest team, Eastern Washington, is all alone in first place with an 8-1 record. The Hornets have six games remaining on the regular-season schedule, with four of those contests coming on the road. Sacramento State is attempting to reach the Big Sky Tournament for the second-consecutive season.

Eastern Washington (12-10, 8-1) has won eight-consecutive games after losing its Big Sky opener (and only home loss of the season) to Montana on Jan. 8. The Eagles are 6-1 at home this year, and have an amazing 5-0 record on the road against Big Sky competition. EWU is 14-5 all-time against Sacramento State, and has won each of the last seven meetings between the two teams in Cheney. The Eagles defeated the Hornets (68-62) earlier this year in Sacramento.

Meet the Coaches

Jerome Jenkins is currently in his fourth season at the helm of the Sacramento State basketball program. Since taking over a struggling team in 2000-01, the Hornets have improved their overall and conference records each season, including the program''s first-ever Big Sky Tournament appearance in 2002-03. He has posted a 36-69 record during his tenure as head coach.

Jenkins led the 2002-03 team to the following Div. I single-season records: most wins (12), most road wins (six), most conference wins (five), first Big Sky win on the road, first Big Sky Tournament victory (at Montana), first Big Sky road win, and most Big Sky road wins (two).

The 36-year old coach came to Sacramento State prior to the 1999-2000 season and served as the team’s top assistant coach that year. Jenkins previously had worked two seasons as an assistant at Eastern Washington (1997-99). Prior to working at EWU, he spent four seasons at Diablo Valley College, where he was an assistant coach (1993-95) and associate head coach (1995-97).

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 CC. He then transferred to Regis University in Denver, Colo., where he played his final two seasons.

Ray Giacoletti is currently in his fourth season as head coach at Eastern Washington after stops at North Dakota State (head coach from 1997-00), Washington (assistant from 1993-97) and Illinois State (assistant from 1990-93). At EWU, Giacoletti has posted a 64-47 record, while leading the Eagles to their first-ever National Invitational Tournament berth in 2003.

A Look at the Latest Action

Senior Joseth Dawson tied his career high with 30 points and Sacramento State tied a Div. I-era record with 110 points as the Hornets downed NAU, 110-97, at the Walkup Skydome.

The Hornets’ 110 points were the most the Lumberjacks have allowed at home since giving up 111 to Montana State during the 1974-75 season. The last time Sacramento State scored 110 points in a game was during the team''s inaugural Div. I season (1991-92) in a 110-106 double-overtime victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Dawson, junior Jameel Pugh (career-high tying 22 points, 9-of-14 shooting from the field) and senior Joel Jones (20 points, 6-of-12 shooting, 4-of-8 three-pointers) combined to score 72 of the team’s 110 points. Sophomore DaShawn Freeman added a season-best 14 points. Dawson went 7-of-9 from the field and a perfect 14-of-14 from the free-throw line as the Hornets posted season highs in points, field goals (35), free throws made (28) and free-throw percentage (.848, 28-33), while tying a season high with 12 three-pointers.

After going into halftime with a 43-38 lead, the Hornets posted a program-record 67 points in the second half, knocking down 21-of-23 free throws in the process. Sacramento State finished the game shooting 54.7 percent (35-64) from the field and 46.2 percent (12-26) from beyond the three-point arc. A total of seven different Hornets had at least one three-pointer, including two apiece from Dawson and senior Brandon Guyton.

Free throws and three-pointers were the difference in the game as NAU shot 54.4 percent (37-68) from the field, but knocked down five less three-pointers (7-for-18) and 12 less free throws (16-for-21) than the Hornets. The Lumberjacks had five players score in double figures, led by Aaron Bond’s 21 points.

NAU opened the game on an 8-0 run before Sacramento State answered with a 31-11 run to take a 12-point lead (31-19) with 8:45 left in the first half. The Lumberjacks got within one point (39-38) on a Kodiak Yazzie three-pointer, but the Hornets closed the half with a Guyton three-pointer and a free throw from sophomore Chris Lange to go into the break with a five-point lead.

Both teams traded baskets for the first 10 minutes of the second half until Bond scored five unanswered points to get NAU back within one point of the Hornets’ lead (66-65) with 9:39 remaining in the contest. However, a three-pointer from Freeman and a dunk from Cedric Thompkins put Sacramento State back up by six points (71-65) with 8:25 remaining. The Lumberjacks would get no closer than four points the rest of the way as Jones’ 18 second-half points led the way.

The Hornets, who never trailed during the final 31 minutes of the contest, opened up a lead as large as 16 points in the second half before settling for the 13-point victory. Thompkins led all players with 10 rebounds as he is now averaging 7.5 rebounds per contest in Big Sky play. Senior Tony Champion missed his first game of the season with a wrist injury.

Dynamic Trio

Against Northern Arizona, senior Joseth Dawson (30 points), junior Jameel Pugh (22) and senior Joel Jones (20) became the first Sacramento State trio to each score at least 20 points in a game since the program joined the Div. I ranks in 1991-92.

Dawson became the first Hornet to earn Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors this season after tying his career high with 30 points. His scoring production was the highest mark by a Hornet since he scored 30 in a loss at Portland State on Feb. 1, 2002. In addition, Dawson, who scored 14 of his points during the final 4:23 of the contest, now leads the team with 16 double-figure games this season and 34 during his career.

His 14 free throws were the most by a Sacramento State player without a miss and ranked as the second-best mark in the school''s Div. I history (1991-pres.). The Fontana, Calif., native now ranks second in the Big Sky Conference in free throws made (96) and free-throw percentage (96-113, .850). Dawson, who leads the team in scoring (13.0 ppg) despite not starting a game this season, already ranks fifth in program history with 196 career free throws despite playing less than two seasons.

After struggling for most of the first three months of the season, Pugh has turned it on over the last five games. Pugh''s 22 points matched a career high as the Sacramento native scored 22 as a sophomore at UMass on Jan. 12, 2002, at Fordham.

Over his last five games, Pugh, who is eighth in the Big Sky in offensive rebounds, is averaging 12.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field. Named the World''s Best Dunker in 2000 by Slam Magazine, Pugh has six dunks over his last two games (including four at Northern Arizona).

Jones, who is the only Hornet to start all 21 games this season, now leads the team with four games with at least 20 points this season. Coupled with a 22-point performance against Montana, Jones is averaging 21.0 points over his last two games on 14-of-25 shooting (.560). He has also made 10 appearances at the free-throw line (converting eight) over the last two contests after going to the free-throw line just 31 times during the first 19 games of the season.

Arguably the Hornets'' best player, Jones ranks among the team''s top three performers in points (264), points per game (12.6), steals (21), three-pointers (38), three-point field-goal percentage (.380), minutes per game (29.3), field goals (98), rebounds (92) and blocked shots (11).

Final Five Minutes Don''t Mean Much

So far this season, Sacramento State is a perfect 10-0 when leading a game with five minutes remaining in the second half. However, the Hornets are 0-11 when trailing with five minutes left in a game. In Sacramento State''s victories, the team has been leading by at least three points in all 10 games with five minutes to play.

In the Hornets'' losses, the team has trailed by at least three points with five minutes to play in each of those 11 games. Throw away the Oregon State game (where the Hornets trailed by three points), and Sacramento State has trailed by at least five points with five minutes to play. In the 10 victories, the Hornets have been leading by an average of 13.2 points per game while trailing by an average of 10.0 ppg in the losses. The Hornets are also 0-10 when trailing at the half and 10-1 when tied or leading at the break.

Sky Thompkins

Although the Hornets'' front court has struggled as a whole this season, senior power forward/center Cedric Thompkins has stepped up his game during Big Sky Conference play

Including a career-high 22-point effort against Montana State, Thompkins is averaging 8.9 points and a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game against conference competition. He also leads the squad with a .554 field-goal percentage (31-56), which included a 10-of-11 performance against Montana State and 9-of-13 vs. Portland State. Entering conference play, Thompkins was averaging 4.2 points on 46.8 percent shooting to go along with 4.4 rebounds.

Thompkins, who leads the team with two double-doubles this season (Dominican and Long Beach State), finished with 19 points against Portland State. In fact, the Hornets are 4-0 when Thompkins scores in double figures this season and 13-3 over the course of his career.

Against conference competition, Thompkins, who has at least 10 rebounds in three of his last five games, ranks among the top four league leaders in offensive rebounds (1st with 3.62 per game), field-goal percentage (3rd) and rebounds (fourth).

The Second Wave

Arguably the deepest squads in the Big Sky Conference, Sacramento State did nothing to dispel that theory as the team''s bench (non-starters) combined for 71 points in Saturday''s win at Northern Arizona. In fact, the Hornets'' bench is averaging 33.9 points per game this season. The bench''s lowest production this year was 21 points at Stanford.

Head coach Jerome Jenkins has used 11 different players this season to the tune of at least 8.3 minutes per game. Jenkins has used six different starting lineups and nine different players have started at least one game this season. Leading the way for the bench has been senior Joseth Dawson''s team-leading 13.0 points per game. The bench is averaging just four points less per game than the team''s starters (37.9).

The point and shooting guard positions are the two deepest on the team. Sacramento State goes three deep at the point (DaShawn Freeman, E.J. Harris and James Payne) and four players have appeared at shooting guard for the Hornets (Dawson, Brandon Guyton, Joel Jones and Jameel Pugh) during the year.

A Look At The Last Meeting

Eastern Washington’s Marc Axton led all players with 22 points and the Eagles shot 56.8 percent (25-44 from the field) on the way to a 68-62 victory over Sacramento State earlier this season.

The Eagles’ field-goal percentage still ranks as the highest an opponent has recorded against the Hornets this season. Sacramento State, which shot 37.7 percent (20-53) from the floor, missed 16 layups on the way to its fifth-lowest point output of the year. The Hornets were led by Joseth Dawson’s 19 points while Chris Lange chipped in 13 points and six rebounds. Cedric Thompkins led all players with eight rebounds.

With Eastern Washington leading, 42-41, with 12:14 left in the contest, the Eagles went on a 9-1 run as Josh Barnard scored five of the team’s nine points during the stretch. Sacramento State closed to within two points of the Eagles’ lead (60-58) on a free throw by Lange with 2:07 left in the contest. The Hornets had a chance to tie, but a jumper from DaShawn Freeman fell off the mark and was rebounded by Axton with 1:23 to play. From there, Eastern Washington made 8-of-10 free throws during the final 50 seconds to ice the game.

The Hornets held their last lead of the contest at 40-38 with 14:13 remaining. The Eagles shot 52.2 percent (12-23) in the first half and 61.9 percent (13-21) in the second half. The Hornets converted just three three-pointers in the game, tying their lowest output of the season (UC Riverside).

Joining Axton in double figures for Eastern Washington were Alvin Snow and Barnard, who each had 14 points.

A Look At Eastern Washington

• Eastern Washington is riding an eight-game winning streak, matching the school''s longest as a member of Div. I. The Eagles lead the Big Sky by 2.5 games and are seeking their second Big Sky regular season championship. EWU is 23-6 in the month of February over the last five years. The team is led by senior swingman Alvin Snow (14.3 ppg, 4.9 rpp, 2.7 apg) and junior forward Marc Axton (12.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.9 apg).