Sacramento State led, 31-14, with 5:39 remaining in the first half, but could not hold the lead down the stretch. Montana State had already cut the deficit to eight points by halftime and the Hornets went 5-for-17 (.294) the field and 2-for-9 (.222) from the free-throw line over the final 8:25 of the second half to aid the Bobcats’ come-from-behind victory. In fact, after sophomore Davon Roberts knocked down a pair of free throws to put Sacramento State up 12 points (56-44) with 8:26 to play, MSU closed the game on a 31-14 run.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, blowing big first-half leads has become too commonplace of late as the team led Weber State at home by 15 points with 2:14 left in the first half before falling, 76-73, in overtime. The very next game against Idaho State, Sacramento State held a 17-point lead with 8:05 remaining in the first half before losing, 72-71.

This time, a number of factors led to Sacramento State’s demise, including shooting a season-low 48.3 percent (14-29) from the free-throw line. The Hornets went just 6-of-24 (25.0 percent) from beyond the three-point arc and shot 35.3 percent (12-34) from the field in the second half. Overall, the Hornets shot 37.9 percent (25-66) from the field and were outscored in the second half by a 48-35 margin.

With the loss, the Hornets conclude the regular season with a 14-14 overall record and a 5-9 mark in the Big Sky. Sacramento State has lost five in a row and nine of its last 10 games, including seven of those losses coming by six points or less. What makes the loss even more painful for the Hornets is the team would have hosted Montana State in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament on Saturday, March 4, with a victory tonight. Instead, Sacramento State will fly home on Tuesday and then turn around on Friday and head back to Bozeman, Mont., for the first round of the Big Sky Tournament at Montana State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PST.

Northern Arizona (No. 1 seed) and Montana (No. 2 seed) will each get first-round byes in the tournament while No. 3 Eastern Washington hosts No. 6 Portland State in the other Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal game on Saturday. Should the Hornets defeat Montana State, the team would travel to Flagstaff, Ariz., for a Big Sky Tournament semifinal game on Tuesday, March 7. The championship game will take place in Flagstaff on Wednesday, March 8.

With the victory, Montana State improved to 15-14 overall and 7-7 in the Big Sky while securing the tournament’s No. 4 seed. The Bobcats had lost each of their last five Big Sky games prior to tonight’s victory. Sacramento State will travel to a Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal game for the first time since the 2002-03 season when the team defeated Montana, 88-75, in Missoula, Mont. The Hornets hosted Weber State in the first round each of the last two years.

The Bobcats had four players score in double figures, comprised of Al Beye (16 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots), Derrick Edmonds (16 points, five rebounds), Jacques Wilson (11 points) and Ted Morris (10 points). After shooting just 29.0 percent (9-31) from the field in the first half, Montana State shot 57.7 percent (15-26) in the second half.

The Bobcats used a 24-5 run that spanned more than five and a half minutes late in the second half to take a 68-61 lead with 2:44 to play. Beye scored nine of his 16 points during the run, as Sacramento State would get no closer than within five points of MSU’s lead the rest of the way.

The Hornets were led by freshman Loren Leath’s 23 points (9-of-20 shooting) as 16 of his points came in the second half. Junior Clark Woods added 14 points (6-of-9 shooting) and a game-high three steals, and junior Alex Bausley had 10 points. Senior co-captains DaShawn Freeman (zero points, 0-for-6 shooting) and Jason Harris (seven points, seven rebounds, 2-for-10 shooting) combined for just seven points.

Woods and sophomore Justin Williams (five points, five rebounds, 2-for-4 shooting) were the only Hornets to shoot at least 50.0 percent from the field.

Sacramento State has reached the Big Sky Tournament four-straight years after failing to reach the postseason event during its first six years in the league. The Hornets are 1-3 all-time in Big Sky Tournament play, but have never faced Montana State in the postseason. All three postseason losses for the Hornets came to Weber State, who failed to reach this year’s tournament.