ELLER’S CAREER-HIGH 25 POINTS NOT ENOUGH AS MEN’S BASKETBALL FINISHES SEASON WITH LOSS TO NORTHERN COLORADO

2/27/2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Despite a career-high 25 points from senior Justin Eller in his final game, Northern Colorado was proficient from the field all evening in a 78-66 win over the Hornets in a Big Sky Conference men’s basketball game Saturday evening at the Nest.

The Bears put on a shooting clinic, converting on 55.3 percent (26-47) of their attempts from the field, 53.3 percent (8-15) from the three-point line and 78.3 percent (18-23) from the free throw line. Northern Colorado shot better than 52 percent from the floor in both halves. In addition, all four players that converted at least one three-pointer shot 50 percent or better from beyond the arc.

The Bears never trailed, jumping out to a 17-9 lead with 14:11 remaining in the first half. Sacramento State closed to within four points once, but never got any closer. Northern Colorado held a double digit lead the final 18:03 of the contest.

While Northern Colorado was shooting lights out, Sacramento State couldn’t buy a bucket from beyond the arc. The Hornets, who entered the game averaging 7.5 three-pointers over their last eight games, went just 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from distance. The lone three-pointer, made by freshman John Dickson, extended the Hornets’ streak to at least one made three-pointer in 463 straight games dating back to 1993.

With the loss, Sacramento State concludes its season with a 9-21 overall record and a 3-13 conference mark. The Hornets vastly improved upon a 2008-09 season in which the team won just two games overall (2-27) and one game within conference play (1-15). In addition, the Hornets lost seven games this season by six points or less.

“Obviously, we’ve improved a great deal since last year and we were a lot more competitive,” Sacramento State second-year head coach Brian Katz said. “I will be surprised if we don’t continue to improve (in 2010-11) at the rate we did this season. With our returning players and redshirts, this is the best pool of talent we’ve had during my tenure, and we still have five available scholarships.”

Conversely, Northern Colorado (24-6, 12-4) clinched the No. 2 seed in the Big Sky Tournament, and will receive a first-round bye in the postseason event. The top six teams reach the tournament which begins next Saturday, and the seeds are as follows: No. 1 Weber State, No. 2 Northern Colorado, No. 3 Montana State, No. 4 Montana, No. 5 Northern Arizona and No. 6 Portland State. Idaho State, Eastern Washington and the Hornets did not qualify.

Tonight marked the final games in the careers of Hornet seniors Domineek Daniel, Eller, Antonio Flaggs, Jonathan Malloy, Mike Marcial, Michael Selling and Jared Stigall. All seven of those players are on pace to graduate this spring, summer or next fall. Eller went out with a bang, tallying a career-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. He finished the season averaging team highs in points (11.3 per game), rebounds (5.5 per game) and field goal percentage (.496). The points and field goal percentage were both career highs.

Eller was joined in double figures by junior Duro Bjegovic who finished with 10 points (5-of-9 from the field) and four rebounds. Junior Sultan Toles-Bey added eight points and four rebounds, and Dickson finished with six points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. No other Hornet scored more than four points. Dickson finishes the season with an average of 9.7 points per game, the third most by a true freshman since Sacramento State joined the Div. I ranks in 1991-92.

The Hornets shot 42.6 percent (23-54) from the field, including 22-of-41 from inside the three-point arc. Sacramento State was outrebounded, 34-26, but managed to score 21 points off 18 Northern Colorado turnovers.

For the Bears, four players scored in double figures comprised of Will Figures (20 points, six rebounds), Mike Proctor (16 points, five rebounds), Elliott Lloyd (16 points) and Neal Kingman (11 points, six rebounds). Lloyd (3-5) and Figures (3-6) combined to shoot 6-of-11 from the three-point line. All but one of Northern Colorado’s starters had at least five rebounds.

Sacramento State will return five players and two redshirts to next year’s team. Returning are Toles-Bey, Dickson, Bjegovic, shooting guard Brad Johnstin and center Dani Lopez. Center Alpha N'Diaye and swingman Walter Jackson redshirted this season and will be active next year. Shooting guard Jackson Carbajal, a 6-foot-3 sharp shooter from Clovis’ Buchanan High School, will be in a Hornet uniform after signing during the early signing period.

SEASON NOTES

• Sacramento State’s nine overall wins are seven more than the program’s total output from a year ago (2-27), and the team’s three conference victories tripled its total output from last season (1-15).
• The Hornets’ nine wins are more than the last two seasons combined.
• Sacramento State was able to rid itself of three ugly streaks:
1. The team snapped a 39-game road losing streak with its victory at Oregon State. The Hornets would go on to post four wins away from home, including a victory over crosstown rival UC Davis.
2. The win over Oregon State marked just the second win for Sacramento State against a Pacific-10 Conference program, and the first since the Hornets beat Washington State on Dec. 17, 1953.
3. The win at Idaho State snapped a 27-game Big Sky road losing streak.
• Senior Antonio Flaggs finished his two-year career with a .385 three-point field goal percentage, which is the fourth best mark in Sacramento State history.
• Senior Mike Marcial finished the season with a 2.8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is the 10th best mark in the nation. He finished with 103 assists compared to just 37 turnovers.
• Despite losing seven seniors from this season’s team, the Hornets will return two of their top three, and three of their top five scorers (Sultan Toles-Bey 11.3 ppg, John Dickson 9.7 ppg and Duro Bjegovic 7.4 ppg).
• Sultan Toles-Bey finished the season with an .869 free throw percentage, the seventh-best mark in school single-season history. He was also 48-for-51 (.941) from the free throw line during the final five minutes of a game.