HARGRAVE AND ADAMS COMBINE FOR 50 POINTS AS MEN’S BASKETBALL BLOWS OUT FIRST-PLACE WEBER STATE

2/27/2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Senior Haron Hargrave (game-high 30) and junior Rod Adams (20) combined for 50 of Sacramento State’s 105 points as the Hornets cruised past Weber State, 105-83, in a Big Sky Conference men’s basketball game Monday evening at the Hornets Nest.

Tonight’s game marked the season finale for Sacramento State, as the team led from start to finish while holding a double-figure points lead the final 25:53 of the game. The Hornets had five players score in double figures, comprised of Hargrave, Adams, junior Kris Groce (16 points, five assists, three steals), senior Alex Bausley (15 points, four steals) and sophomore Loren Leath (12 points). Adams, who has scored in double figures each of the last four games after accomplishing the feat once through the first 25 games of the season, also had seven assists, five rebounds and a career-high seven steals.

Sacramento State concludes the 2006-07 season with a 10-19 overall record and a 5-11 mark in the Big Sky. After failing to win anything more than nine games during the team’s first 11 years in the Div. I ranks (1991-pres.), the team has now accomplished the feat five straight seasons. However, the Hornets will see their streak of four straight Big Sky Tournament appearances come to a close as the team did not qualify this season.

Weber State, which has won at least a share of the Big Sky regular season championship, will host the Big Sky Tournament semifinals and championship game on March 6-7. The Wildcats conclude the regular season with an 18-11 overall record and an 11-5 mark in the Big Sky. The Wildcats, who will be the Big Sky Tournament’s No. 1 seed next week, had won six of their last seven games prior to tonight’s loss.

Sacramento State dominated in nearly every facet of tonight’s game, shooting 55.2 percent (37-67) from the field and 48.0 percent (12-25) from beyond the arc. The Hornets’ stingy defense finished with a season-high 19 steals (two shy of the program record) while forcing Weber State into 29 turnovers. Sacramento State outscored Weber State, 42-14, in points off turnovers, and eight different Hornets had at least one steal. Bausley’s four steals gives him 72 for the season, and he will finish the regular season as the league’s steals champion (one ahead of Eastern Washington’s Rodney Stuckey).

The Hornets, who led by at least 20 points the final 12:19 of the game, reached the century mark in points for the third time this season, tying the Div. I era record for most 100-point games. The team’s 105 points were two shy of the season high (107 vs. Bethany), and the most against a Div. I opponent this season.

Weber State’s starting five combined to commit 22 turnovers, including nine from Dezmon Harris. The Wildcats badly outrebounded the Hornets, 41-22, but could not compensate for Sacramento State’s points off turnovers.

Prior to the game, Hornet seniors Hargrave and Bausley were honored for their contributions to the program and neither disappointed. Hargrave finished one point shy of his career high while shooting 8-of-14 from the field, 5-of-9 from long range, and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Hargrave, who finished the season as the team leader in points per game (13.8), became just the seventh player in program history to make at least 200 career free throws. The Queens, N.Y., native finished his career with 201 free throws in 247 attempts (.814).

Bausley finished the game with 15 points, five assists, zero turnovers and four steals while shooting 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc. The Los Angeles native finishes his four-year tenure at Sacramento State among the program’s top five Div. I career leaders in points (1,150), rebounds (546), steals (189) and assists (171).

Five Sacramento State players finished the season with averages of at least 9.9 points per game, comprised of Hargrave (13.8), Leath (12.8), Bausley (12.7), Groce (10.8) and Angel Alamo (9.9). The Hornets set a new program record with 11.03 steals per game, surpassing the previous mark of 9.96, set on two previous occasions. Sacramento State also forced the opposition into 20.3 turnovers per game, another program record.

Sacramento State will return all but two players (Hargrave and Bausley) next year, including junior Randy Adams and senior Clark Woods, who both redshirted this season. Adams is arguably the team’s best defender and Woods is one of the team’s best outside shooters, finishing his junior season (2005-06) with an average of 7.3 points per game.

The Hornets concluded the season with an 8-5 record at home, including three victories in their final four games inside the friendly confines.