After Loren Leath buried a three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining to give the Hornets a two-point lead (71-69), Idaho State called a timeout with 16 seconds left to set up Schroeder’s shot. The Bengals dribbled down the clock briefly before Akbar Abdul-Ahad fed Schroeder, whose open three-pointer hit nothing but net. Sacramento State had a chance to win the game on the ensuing possession, but Freeman drove the length of the floor and his off-balance, contested layup missed the mark. The rebound fell out of bounds in favor of Sacramento State with 0.3 seconds remaining, and Jason Harris’ tip attempt off an out-of-bounds pass was well of the mark as the buzzer sounded.

The Hornets, who defeated Idaho State, 107-106, earlier this year on a buzzer-beating jumper from Alex Bausley, have now lost each of their last four home games by three points or less. Sacramento State had chances to tie or win in the closing seconds of each of those four losses, but came out on the short end. After beginning the year with a 13-5 overall record and a 4-0 mark in the conference, the Hornets have now lost six of their last seven games. This comes after Sacramento State began the year with a 7-0 record at home and each of those wins came by at least nine points.

Idaho State (11-12, 3-8) is now within two games of Sacramento State in the conference standings. With three games remaining in the season, Sacramento State is currently in fifth place in the Big Sky, one game ahead of sixth-place Weber State (4-7) and two games ahead of the Bengals. The top six teams in the eight-member Big Sky reach the conference tournament, which begins on March 4. Both Idaho State and Weber State currently own the tiebreaker over the Hornets. Idaho State will play each of its final three games at home, Weber State will play two of the last three at home, and the Hornets will play just one home game (Feb. 25 vs. Northern Arizona).

Sacramento State had a game-high 17-point lead (26-9) with 8:05 to play in the first half, but Idaho State nearly erased the deficit by halftime. A layup at the buzzer by Kasey Winters capped a 24-8 run to close the half as the Bengals went into the break with just a 34-33 deficit. The Hornets also had a 15-point lead in the first half against Weber State on Thursday, but lost in overtime.

The Hornets pushed their lead to as many as eight points (54-46) in the second half, but Idaho State immediately responded with a 9-0 run, capped by a Winters’ layup to take a 55-54 lead with 8:00 remaining. No team led by more than three points the rest of the way as the game was tied on six different occasions during the final 6:30.

During the final minute, Clark Woods hit a pair of free throws to give the Hornets a 68-67 lead, but Winters immediately responded with two free throws to give the Bengals back the lead with 37 seconds remaining. That set up the back-to-back three-pointers from Leath and Schroeder. No team led by more than a point during the final 3:20 of the contest, and Idaho State’s largest lead of the night was three points (39-36) with 18:02 left in the second half.

Slim Millien’s 19 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots led the Bengals while Schroeder (17 points, 11 in the second half), Winters (12 points, 14 rebounds and eight turnovers) and Tim Henry (12 points) also had double figures for Idaho State. The Bengals outrebounded the Hornets, 41-32, and four of the team’s final seven points came after an offensive rebound.

Sacramento State got a career-high 26 points from Leath, who also knocked down four three-pointers. The freshman finished 8-of-18 from the field, 4-of-12 from beyond the arc, and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Freeman finished with 11 points, 11 assists and a season-high seven steals to round out the two Hornets in double figures. Junior Alex Bausley tallied nine points and five rebounds before fouling out of his second-straight game with 37.2 seconds remaining. Harris had nine points and four rebounds, and Justin Williams added eight points, including an emphatic dunk over Millien with 12:51 to play.

Sacramento State forced Idaho State into 21 turnovers, but could not get defensive stops at the end of the game. The Bengals were successful in scoring on five of their final six possessions of the contest, including a three-pointer from Abdul-Ahad as the shot clock expired with 2:46 remaining.

The Hornets had defeated Idaho State each of the last four meetings between the two teams. In a series which seems to always come down to the last shot, five of the last six games between the Hornets and Bengals have been decided by two points or less.

Sacramento State’s final three games will take place at Montana (Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 6:05 p.m. PST), home against Northern Arizona (Senior Night on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 3:35 p.m.) and on the road at Montana State (Monday, Feb. 27, at 6:05 p.m. PST). The Hornets would clinch their fourth-straight Big Sky Tournament berth with one more win and an Idaho State loss.