WEBER STATE SHOOTS 67 PERCENT IN VICTORY OVER MEN’S BASKETBALL

1/11/2007

OGDEN, Utah -- David Patten scored a team-high 21 points and Weber State shot 66.7 percent (30-45) from the field on the way to an 88-68 victory over Sacramento State in a Big Sky Conference men’s basketball game Thursday evening at the Dee Events Center.

The Wildcats, who held a 42-33 halftime lead, shot a ridiculous 73.9 percent (17-23) in the second half to put the game away. Patten went 8-of-14 from the field while also tallying seven rebounds. Arturas Valeika added 20 points and 11 rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting. Seven different Weber State players shot better than 50.0 percent from the field. In addition, Weber State owned the glass, outrebounding Sacramento State, 38-24.

With the loss, Sacramento State dropped to 7-10 overall and 2-3 in the Big Sky. The Hornets, who will not play another conference road game until Feb. 3, fell to 2-8 away from home. In addition, Sacramento State is now 1-13 all-time against Weber State in Ogden, Utah, and 3-23 overall against the Wildcats.

Weber State, which defeated Portland State at home last night, won for the fifth time in six games and improved to 12-7 overall and 5-1 in the Big Sky. Led by first-year head coach Randy Rahe, the Wildcats have already surpassed their number of conference victories from all of last season (4).

The Wildcats led for the final 36:08 of the game as the 20-point margin of victory was also the team’s largest lead of the night. After a pair of free throws from Sacramento State’s Haron Hargrave sliced the Wildcat lead to six points (54-48) with 13:43 remaining in the contest, Weber State immediately responded with a 12-7 run to take a 66-55 lead with 9:19 left in the game. Sacramento State trailed by double figures the rest of the way as the Wildcats scored 10 of the game’s final 13 points.

Hargrave led all players with 23 points as the combo guard shot 4-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc and 11-of-11 from the free throw line. The Queens, N.Y., native scored 16 of the Hornets’ 35 points in the second half while also adding a career-high tying seven rebounds. Hargrave has now led Sacramento State in scoring in five of the last eight games, and is averaging a team-high 14.4 points per contest.

In his third game of the season and first start in the Green and Gold, junior point guard Kris Groce added 11 points and four assists in 36 minutes to round out the Hornets in double figures. Senior forward Alex Bausley had nine points, but shot just 3-of-14 from the field.

Sacramento State shot 35.8 percent (24-67) from the field, the team’s third worst effort of the season. Conversely, Weber State’s 66.7 shooting percentage was the best by a Hornet opponent this year. The Hornets shot just 26.9 percent (7-26) from beyond the arc, and again had no answer for an opponent’s combination of big men. The 6-8 Patten and 6-9 Valeika combined for 41 points and 18 rebounds. In the Hornets’ loss to Idaho State last Saturday, the Bengals’ front line of Nicholas Rhodes and John Ofoegbu combined for 28 points and 22 rebounds.

Sacramento State forward/center Angel Alamo was held scoreless for the first time all season as the junior was 0-for-6 from the floor while pulling down six rebounds.

The Hornets’ poor defense continues to haunt the team as three of the last six opponents have shot better than 63.0 percent from the floor. The opposition is now shooting a robust 51.8 percent from the field this season.

Sacramento State enters one of its biggest stretches of the season as the Hornets will play each of their next four Big Sky games at home, beginning on Saturday, Jan. 13, against Northern Arizona at 7:05 p.m. After a non-conference game at Cal Poly (Jan. 16), Sacramento State begins a season-long three-game homestand against Big Sky opponents Eastern Washington (Jan. 25), Portland State (Jan. 26) and Northern Colorado (Jan. 31).