MEN’S BASKETBALL USES HUGE SECOND HALF TO DEFEAT NORTH DAKOTA, 75-64

12/18/2011

Senior Heath Hoffman scored a career-high 19 points, including 4-of-5 from beyond the three-point line

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State shot 9-of-13 (.692) from the three-point line, held a 37-22 rebounding margin and used a huge second half to defeat North Dakota, 75-64, in a non-conference men’s basketball game Sunday evening at The Nest.

After trailing, 35-29, at halftime, the Hornets began the second half on a 17-2 run to take control of the game. In the end, Sacramento State would outscore North Dakota, 46-29, after halftime and went 6-of-8 from the free throw during the game’s final 59 seconds to ice the victory.

Sacramento State shot 53.1 percent from the field (26-49), held a 16-2 advantage in second-chance points, and outscored North Dakota, 32-24 in the paint. Twelve of those second chance points came in the second half, including a huge stretch of tip-ins by Walter Jackson on back-to-back possessions to give the Hornets a five-point lead with 2:50 remaining.

During Sacramento State’s 17-2 run, the team buried four three-pointers, including two from Heath Hoffman, and one each from Dylan Garrity and Joe Eberhard. A layup from Josh McCarver capped the run and gave the Hornets a 46-37 lead with 13:50 remaining.

Sacramento State would eventually pushed its lead to a game-high 13 points (54-41) before North Dakota stormed back with a 14-2 run to cut the lead to one point (56-55) with 5:13 left in the contest. However, Hoffman answered with a free throw followed by an Eberhard three ball to push the lead back to five points. North Dakota would get no closer than three points the rest of the way as a Garrity 27-footer as the shot clock expired proved to be the dagger and gave the Hornets a 69-59 lead with 1:11 remaining.

During the second half, Sacramento State shot 56.0 percent (14-25) from the field, 87.5 percent (7-8) from the three-point line, 73.3 percent (11-15) from the charity stripe, and held a 23-8 rebounding margin.

With the victory, the Hornets (5-5) won their second straight game and improved to 4-1 on the home floor. Sacramento State will conclude its season-high tying three-game homestand on Thursday, Dec. 22, against Southeast Missouri at 7:05 p.m. before opening Big Sky Conference play at Northern Arizona on Dec. 29.

North Dakota, which was coming off an 89-70 home victory against South Dakota State on Thursday, dropped to 5-6 with the loss. The Fighting Sioux and Hornets were playing each other for just the second time ever as UND posted a 64-60 win in Grand Forks last season.

For Sacramento State, Hoffman posted a career-high 19 points as the senior shot 6-of-8 from the field, 4-of-5 from the three-point line and 3-of-4 from the free throw line while playing a season-best 33 minutes. Twelve of those points came in the second half. Joining Hoffman in double figures for the Hornets was Eberhard, who had 13 points (3-of-5 from behind the arc) and seven rebounds in a game-high 38 minutes.

Seven different Sacramento State players had at least seven points, including John Dickson (nine points, two blocks and three steals), Garrity (nine points, two steals and game-high seven assists), Jackson (eight points, seven rebounds), Konner Veteto (eight points, four rebounds) and Josh McCarver (seven points and career-high nine rebounds). Four of the Hornets’ five starters shot at least 50.0 percent from the field.

North Dakota was led by Jamal Webb’s game-high 21 points, as he combined with Aaron Anderson (14) and Troy Huff (10) to score 45 of the team’s 64 points. The Fighting Sioux finished the game shooting 43.1 percent (22-51) from the field and 30.8 percent (8-26) from the three-point line.

Sacramento State led the final 16:48 of the contest.