OGDEN, Utah -- Weber State received 50 points off the bench and held on for a 98-88 victory over Sacramento State Saturday night at the Dee Events Center. Chris Woods led the bench with 16 points off the bench. He was just one of three nonstarters to reach double-figures.
The loss dropped the Hornets to 4-19 overall and 1-11 in the Big Sky Conference. The defeat also eliminated the team from reaching the Big Sky Tournament. Weber State improved to 13-11 overall and 8-6 in conference games.
Sacramento State trailed by nine, 48-39, at halftime and saw WSU pull ahead by as many as 19 midway through the second half before the team responded. The Hornets were able to trim the deficit to five points with five minutes remaining but could never pull closer.
The 10-point loss was the closest defeat for the Hornets at the Dee Events Center in school history. The Hornets had lost the previous four meetings in Ogden by an average of 31.85 points.
Adding to its road woes, Sacramento State was playing without the services of Arinze Anoruo and Rene Jacques who were both under the weather. In their absence, the Hornets turned to seniors Pablo Gonzales and Rickie Glenn. Gonzales set a career high with 28 points while Glenn was just one point shy of his career mark with 26.
Gonzales made 12-of-20 field goal attempts including one three pointer. The Folsom, Calif., native also went 3-of-4 from the free throw line and led the team with six assists. Glenn was 7-for-13 from the field and made 12-of-16 from the line. The Sacramento, Calif., native paced the team with eight rebounds.
The pair was joined in double-figures by senior Jim Brewer, Jr. The guard came off the bench to score 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Brewer also set a career mark by draining three three-pointers.
As a team, Sacramento State shot 50.0 percent (30-60) from the field and 46.2 percent (6-13) from long range. Weber State, however, was an impressive 32-for-52 (.615) from the floor and dominated the glass 34-27.
Individually, the Wildcats were paced by Ivan Gatto with 19 points. Woods, Jermaine Boyette (14), Stevie Morrison (13) and Jake Shoff (10) all crossed the 10-point plateau for WSU. Woods also paced the team with 10 rebounds.
Sacramento State concludes the home portion of its schedule this week. The Hornets welcome Portland State on Thursday, Feb. 22, before playing its home finale against Eastern Washington on Saturday, Feb. 24.
