SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Junior Pablo Gonzales scored 16 of the team’s

final 21 points to help California State University, Sacramento to a

64-61 come-from-behind victory over Eastern Washington Thursday night at

Memorial Auditorium.

The victory improved Sacramento State to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in the Big

Sky Confernece. The eight wins is the most by a Hornet team since the

program moved to Division I in 1991-92. The team also continued its

strong play at Memorial Auditorium where they are a perfect 6-0 this

year.

The Eagles, who entered the game in sole possession of first place in

the league, fell to 6-8 overall and 3-1 in conference action.

Sacramento State built a six-point lead early on but saw it quickly

slip away when Eastern went ahead, 11-10, with 9:47 left in the first

half. The two teams then traded one-point advantages until EWU surged

ahead with a three-pointer by Dennis Fitzgerald to put the team up,

21-18.

Trailling by three, sophomore Arinze Anoruo scored on a driving layup

with one second left in the half to make the score, 27-26, in favor of

Eastern at the half.

The Eagles opened the second period on a 9-2 run to take a 36-28 lead

with just over 16 minutes left in the game. Sacramento State was able to

match EWU’s play but continued to trail, 41-34 midway through the half.

Sophomore Rene Jacques began the Hornet comeback by making two free

throws to cut the lead to four and senior Anthony Flood added another

pair of free throws to trim the deficit to, 43-41, with 9:35 remaining.

Sacramento State then forced EWU into one of its 18 turnovers and Anoruo

converted the layup to tie the score.

Eastern, however, answered back with a three-pointer by Aaron Olson and

a layup and free throw by Kareem Hunter to go up six with eight minutes

to play.

Gonzales then started his run with a layup, three-pointer and jumper to

put Sacramento State up by one. Deon Williams responded with a five-foot

jumper of his own only to have Flood knock down two of his 14 points.

With the Hornets leading, 52-51, junior Rame Batta stripped the ball

and hit a streaking Gonzales for a breakaway dunk. On the next

possession Gonzales hit another jumper and followed that effort with a

three-pointer to give the team a 59-53 lead with 3:00 left.

Eastern, however, was not done as senior Will Levy made four free

throws to pull the team within two before junior Ricky Glenn made a free

throws for the Hornets.

With 1:12 left, Deon Williams hit a jumper to make the score, 60-59.

Batta then missed a jumper but Anoruo cleaned up the rebound and was

fouled with 34 seconds remaining. The sophomore made one of two attempts

to give the team a two-point edge but Williams then tied the game with a

coast-to-coast layup with 27 seconds left.

Following a timeout, the Hornets designed an isolation play for

Gonzales who sidestepped two defenders to drain a jumper from the left

elbow with eight seconds remaining.

Eastern again attempted to race up the court but Jamal Jones threw a

pass that was not controlled by Williams and rolled out of bounds. The

Hornets then got the ball into the hands of Batta who was fouled and

made both free throws to seal the game.

Sacramento State was led by Gonzales’ 23 points. Flood added 14 points

and 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and Anoruo

contributed 10 points.

Eastern had four players in double-digits led by Olson’s 15.

Sacramento State will next host Portland State on Saturday at Memorial

Auditorium. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:05 p.m.