By Bryan Metcalf, SacStateSports.com staff writer
In front of their second largest home crowd this season, the Sacramento State Hornets fell short of a school record tying five-game winning streak.
Sacramento State squandered at five-point halftime lead to fall 67-58 to the visiting Montana Grizzlies in front of an announced crowd of 818 Saturday night at The Nest.
“I thought we really competed,” Coach Brian Katz said. “We just got in trouble first with their press and then their zone.”
The Hornets (9-15, 4-9) were simply outmatched by the Grizzlies (19-6, 12-1), who extended their winning streak to eight games and tied their own school record for best start in the Big Sky Conference.
Back-to-back baskets in the first minute of play by Art Steward and Kareem Jamar for Montana seemed to set the tone for a repeat performance of the Grizzlies’ blowout win over the Hornets earlier this season.
Katz called a timeout, and Joe Eberhard knocked down a three to spark a 13-7 run over the next two minutes.
A 7-0 run started by a pair of Julian Demalleville free throws just past the halfway point gave Sacramento State their largest lead of the night at nine.
Montana chipped away at the lead and closed it to just one point with two minutes left in the first half.
The Hornets closed the half with a 7-3 run highlighted by a Heath Hoffman buzzer-beating jumper to take a 30-25 lead into the break.
Montana came out firing on all cylinders in the second half with a 19-4 run that covered nearly eight minutes.
Included in that run was Will Cherry’s first field goal of the game, a breakaway dunk after Jamar stole the ball from Hoffman.
Cherry finished with a game-high 17 points, but was only 2-of-8 from the field. He was 12-for-15 at the foul line.
“We worked a lot on our help defense,” Eberhard said. “So guys off the ball are stunting at him so that when he does have a driving lane we get help and take him off his game a little bit.”
Sacramento State had opportunities during the run, but missed on six different shot attempts and committed three turnovers that led to points for Montana.
“They’re the most disciplined and smartest team we’ve seen,” Eberhard said. “Any little mistake you make they take advantage of it and they don’t make many mistakes on the offensive end.”
The Hornets didn’t go away, however.
Trailing 49-37 after a technical foul against their bench, Sacramento State put together another 7-0 spurt and looked like they had taken all momentum after Konner Veteto followed up a jumper at one end with a block at the other.
After the block, Veteto was called for a technical foul for taunting.
“I saw him do it,” Katz said. “It was the right call for sure. I’ve always said the reason problems occur is refs don’t call taunting.
Cherry made both free throws and nailed a three on the ensuing possession for Montana to start a 13-4 run that gave the Grizzlies their largest lead of the night at 14 with less than one minute remaining.
Sacramento State chipped away at the lead, and another buzzer-beater by Hoffman brought the game back to single digits.
Eberhard and Jackson Carbajal tied for a team-high 11 points for the Hornets.
Garrity finished with nine points and a game-high seven assists.
Derek Selvig recorded his fifth career double-double and second this season with 14 points and 14 rebounds for Montana. Art Steward added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Grizzlies.
Hoffman led the Hornets with seven rebounds, including a game-high five on the offensive glass.
Sacramento State spent most of the second half in foul trouble.
The Hornets were called for seven team fouls before the Grizzlies received their first.
“Everybody always feels like the refs miss a few,” Katz said. “We were our biggest enemy because we didn’t get the ball inside and when we did we didn’t go up aggressive enough.”
Katz said an official told him after the game that this was the toughest game he officiated all season because both teams were so physical and competitive.
Eberhard, Carbajal, Hoffman and Veteto finished with four fouls each while Garrity, Josh McCarver and John Dickson received three each.
“We can’t control that,” Carbajal said. “The refs don’t even matter.”
Added Eberhard: “I didn’t even notice the fouls that much. It was more the turnovers that swung the game and built ourselves a little hole.”
Bryan Metcalf is a staff writer for SacStateSports.com. He can be reached at m.bryan.metcalf@gmail.com.
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