After junior Alex Bausley scored a lay-up to draw the Hornets within one point (74-73) of Eastern Washington’s lead with 2:41 to play, the Hornets proceeded to miss six of their final seven shots from the field while also going 0-of-2 from the free-throw line. Conversely, the Eagles knocked down two of their final three shots from the field and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe over that span. Stuckey knocked down 7-of-8 free throws during the final 56 seconds to help ice the victory.

With the loss, Sacramento State lost its season-high fourth in a row while dropping to 13-9 overall and 4-4 in the Big Sky. The Hornets move into a fourth-place tie in the conference standings with Eastern Washington, four games behind first-place Northern Arizona (8-0) who defeated Portland State, 65-63. Montana and Montana State are tied for second place with 6-2 records. Sacramento State has now lost 10-straight games on Eastern Washington’s home floor and has not won in Cheney, Wash., since a one-point victory during the 1994-95 season.

Since Sacramento State had a season-best 13-5 record, the team has now lost by three, two, six and 12 points, respectively, over the last four games. Even with the losing streak, the Hornets’ 13-9 record is still the squad’s best mark after 22 games since the 1988-89 squad was 14-8. Sacramento State, which has dropped its last two on the road and is now 6-7 away from home, will travel to Portland State on Saturday, Feb. 4, for a 7:05 p.m. tipoff.

Stuckey led an Eastern Washington offensive attack that saw the team shoot 47.4 percent (27-57) from the field and a blazing 52.9 percent (9-17) from beyond the arc. The Eagles also had double-figure efforts from Matt Penoncello (18 points, 4-of-5 from beyond the arc), Deuce Smith (18 points, five assists, two steals, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc) and Paul Butorac (13 points, three blocked shots).

Sacramento State had four players score in double figures, comprised of senior Jason Harris (team-high 21 points and eight rebounds, 8-of-11 shooting from the field), Bausley (14 points, seven rebounds, two steals), senior DaShawn Freeman (14 points, six assists, 5-of-9 from the field) and freshman Loren Leath (10 points, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc). The Hornets shot 46.7 percent (28-60) from the field and 40.0 percent (6-15) from beyond the arc, but struggled from the charity stripe, converting just 13-of-22 attempts (59.1 percent). That included a 5-of-12 performance from the line in the second half.

Sacramento State used a 10-0 run early in the game to take a team-high nine-point lead (23-14) with 9:44 remaining in the first half. Leath sparked the run with a pair of three-pointers. EWU stormed back with a 14-5 run to tie the game at 28-28 with 3:40 remaining. From there, the game featured nine lead changes over the next 20 minutes of both the first and second halves until a three-pointer from Penoncello gave EWU a 71-69 lead with 3:41 remaining. The Eagles never trailed again the rest of the way, finishing the final 2:41 of the game on a 13-2 run.

Sacramento State, which had struggled badly in the rebounding department in recent weeks, was outrebounded, 36-34, by Eastern Washington. The Hornets had 15 offensive rebounds, including four from Harris. Since missing the first five games of the conference season, Harris is averaging 15.7 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 57.1 percent (16-28) from the field during his three-game return. Bausley is second in the league with 17.8 points per game in conference play.

Sacramento State will now travel to another city (Portland, Ore.) where the team has struggled to win. In fact, Portland State is 10-0 all-time against the Hornets in Portland and 14-6 overall against Sacramento State.