With the victory, Weber State advances to the Big Sky Tournament semifinals to face Eastern Washington on Tuesday, March 9. In the tournament’s other semifinal game, Northern Arizona will face Idaho State. Both games will take place in Cheney, Wash. Sacramento State, which hosted its first tournament game since joining the Big Sky in 1996, is eliminated from the tournament and concludes the season with a Div. I-best 13-15 record.

The Hornets shot just 31.7 percent (20-63) from the field, 23.1 percent (6-26) from beyond the three-point arc, and 64.0 percent (16-25) from the free-throw line. Sacramento State, which was held scoreless for a span of 6:33 during the first half, forced the Wildcats into 19 turnovers, but could not overcome its shooting woes. No Sacramento State player shot better than 40.0 percent from the field as senior Cedric Thompkins (.400, 2-5) was the team leader in field-goal percentage.

Ocokoljic, who scored four-consecutive points after the Hornets had closed to within two points with 3:24 to play, went 8-of-11 from the field. The senior from Serbia also had eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in 30 minutes. John Hamilton (12 points, 3-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc) and Lance Allred (10 points and a game-high tying 11 rebounds) also scored in double figures for the Wildcats.

Sacramento State, which trailed during the entire second half, cut the Wildcats’ lead to 53-51 on a free throw from Joel Jones with 3:24 remaining in the contest. Weber State then went on a 6-0 run (including two lay-ups from Ocokoljic) to reclaim an eight-point lead (59-51) with 1:59 to play. Sacramento State was able to claw its way back to within two points (62-60) after Joseth Dawson nailed a three-pointer with 39 seconds to play. The Hornets immediately fouled Nic Sparrow on the ensuring possession and Sparrow knocked down both free throws to put the Wildcats up four points with 38 second left.

Dawson tried to answer with a three-pointer, but his effort fell off the mark as Allred pulled down the rebound. Jamaal Jenkins, who scored eight points in the game, knocked down two free throws to put Weber State up six points (66-60) with 27 seconds to play. The Hornets would get no closer than five points the rest of the way.

Two Hornets scored in double figures, led by Jones’ 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Dawson added 15 points, three rebounds and three assists, and junior Jameel Pugh tallied nine points, six rebounds and two steals. Senior Cedric Thompkins had a team-high 11 rebounds as the Hornets lost for just the third time this season (5-3) when Thompkins has at least 10 rebounds.

Although the Hornets shot just 31.7 percent from the field, Sacramento State tallied 19 offensive rebounds (including seven from Jones) resulting in 19 more field goal attempts (63-44) than Weber State. The Hornets’ field goal percentage was their second-lowest output of the season (.309 at Eastern Washington).

Weber State, which went 8-of-12 from the charity stripe during the final minute, never led by anything more than 11 points during the entire contest. Sacramento State’s biggest lead of the game was three points (5-2 at the 18:51 mark of the first half).

Tonight’s game marked the final contests for six Sacramento State seniors (Jones, Dawson, Thompkins, Brandon Guyton, Tony Champion and Djibril Diop). Combined, the six seniors rank among the Sacramento State Div. I (1991-pres.) top 10 career leaders in an abundance of categories.

Dawson ranks in numerous categories, including first with 240 free throws made, fourth with 769 points and tied for fifth with 119 three-pointers. Jones is sixth with 666 points and eighth with 86 three-pointers, and Thompkins is seventh with 306 rebounds. Guyton is third with 142 three-pointers, and Champion ranks fifth in games played (103) and 10th in rebounds (270).

BULLET POINTS ON SOME OF THE TEAM’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS FROM THIS SEASON:

-- 13 WINS IN THE REGULAR SEASON SETS DIV. I ERA (1991-PRES.) RECORD

-- 7 BIG SKY CONFERENCE WINS IS THE MOST SINCE JOINING BIG SKY IN 96-97

-- HIGHEST FINISH (TIED FOR SECOND) SINCE JOINING THE BIG SKY

-- HIGHEST SEED IN THE BIG SKY TOURNAMENT (NO. 4)

-- BEST WINNING PERCENTAGE (.464) IN DIV. I HISTORY

-- 10 WINS AT HOME SET THE DIV. I ERA RECORD FOR HOME WINS IN A SEASON

-- 10 WINS AT HOME IS THE MOST SINCE THE 1988-89 SEASON (11)

-- FIVE CONFERENCE WINS AT HOME ARE THE MOST SINCE JOINING BIG SKY

-- FIRST WIN IN SCHOOL HISTORY AGAINST WEBER STATE (0-18 PREVIOUS) ON FEB. 19

-- FIRST TIME HORNETS HAVE SWEPT WEBER STATE AND IDAHO STATE AT HOME IN CONFERENCE PLAY

-- FIRST TIME THE HORNETS HAVE SWEPT MONTANA AND MONTANA STATE AT HOME

-- SCHOOL RECORD FOR 3 POINT FIELD GOALS IN A GAME - 17 VS. IDAHO STATE ON FEB. 21 (PREVIOUS 14 AT USC ON 11-30-91)

-- MOST BENCH POINTS IN A GAME (71 AT NORTHERN ARIZONA) IN SCHOOL HISTORY

-- BEST RECORD AGAINST THE BIG WEST CONFERENCE (4-1)

-- SET THE DIV. I SEASON RECORD FOR THREE-POINTERS (225), THREE-POINTERS ATTEMPTED (620) AND THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE (.363)