SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Chad Tracy scored with four seconds left to break a 67-67 tie and lift Idaho State to a 71-67 victory over Sacramento State in front of a sellout crowd of 1,135 at Hornet Gym Saturday night.
The win improved the Bengals to 8-11 overall and 4-4 in the Big Sky Conference. The loss dropped the Hornets to 3-16 overall and 0-8 in league games. It also extended the team's losing streak to a season-long nine games.
Sacramento State began the game by missing its first 11 shots of the contest and found itself trailing 13-0 with 15:36 left in the first half. From that point, the Hornets outscored ISU, 26-25, and trailed, 38-26, at halftime.
Sacramento State opened the second half with the same pace and was able to trim its deficit to three, 40-37, in the first four minutes of the period. The Hornets made the score 44-43, in favor of ISU, when freshman Cedric Thompkins made a pair of free throws only to see Idaho State answer with a three-pointer by Tim Erickson.
The Hornets eventually tied the game, 50-50, at the 9:12 mark when Jim Brewer, Jr., buried a three-pointer. Sacramento State seized its first lead of the game after Arinze Anoruo made a pair of free throws to make the score 55-54. The Hornets were able to extend the lead to five, 59-54, before the Bengals went on a 6-0 run over two minutes to reclaim the lead.
With the score tied, 65-65, ISU's Jordie McTavish made a pair of free throws but Rame Batta answered for Sacramento State with a driving layup with 39 seconds to play.
On the next possession, Idaho State struggled against the Hornet defense until Tracy was able to free himself under the basket with one second left on the shot clock for the easy layup. Sacramento State attempted to respond but Rickie Glenn's pass sailed out of bounds and gave the ball back to ISU. One last attempt at a steal failed and the Hornets were forced to foul Erickson who made both free throws sealing the game.
Idaho State shot 51 percent from the floor as a team and were led by a balanced scoring attack. In all, four ISU players cracked double-figures led by D'Marr Suggs' 14 points. Doug Silva added 13 points and 10 rebounds and McTavish also chipped in 13. Erickson rounded out the quartet with 11 points.
Sacramento State ended the night shooting 36.4 percent. Junior Arinze Anouro recorded his third double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Pablo Gonzales and Rene Jacques matched Anoruo with 14 points each.
The Hornets will return to action on Wednesday against Montana State. The game will be played at Hornet Gym and will start at 7 p.m.
