In what was their final home game in a Sac State uniform, Rame Batta, Pablo Gonzales, and Rickie Glenn combined to score 53 of the Hornets? 68 total points. It wasn?t enough however, as Eastern Washington, in search of its second consecutive Big Sky regular season championship, used strong rebounding and solid free throw shooting to sting the Hornets, 80-68.

After Glenn nailed two free throws with just over six minutes remaining to pull the Hornets (5-20, 2-12) within two, 60-58, the Eagles hit the boards. Holding a 35-30 advantage on the glass, the Eagles? Chris White and Aaron Olson rebounded two errant shots with uncontested lay-ups to extend the lead to five, 69-64, with 2:41 left in regulation. “Eastern Washington does that (rebounding) well,” Hornet head coach Jerome Jenkins said. “We don?t do that well at all.”

Batta, who finished with a career-high 22 points on 10-14 shooting, echoed Jenkins? sentiments.

“We played well but we just couldn?t rebound the ball,” he said. “Down the stretch they had a lot of tip-ins, and they got more shots than we did.”

With trench warrior Arinze Anoruo playing only 20 minutes, Eastern Washington (15-9, 10-4) owned the boards. The Eagles, who rank last in the Big Sky in offensive rebounding, collected 19 offensive rebounds, including eight by White alone.

Without Anoruo?s presence in the paint, the Hornets denied their strength as a jump shooting team, and ran several plays to both Glenn and Gonzales in the low-post, while they sent Batta and senior Jim Brewer streaking through the lane and to the rim.

As a team, the Hornets shot just 1-8 from the three-point arc, including 0-2 during the second half.

“We wanted to get out and run, but it just didn?t happen that way,” said Gonzales, who finished with 16 points on 7-10 shooting. “All our shots came from down low. The only plays called to us were post plays.”

Jenkins chalked the play calling up to confidence, hammering home the Hornets? woes from behind the arc.

“We have to hit shots,” Jenkins said. “When we make shots we feel better about ourselves.”

But, for a while, change seemed to be prosperous for the Hornets, especially during the second half when Sac State tried desperately to erase a three-point half-time deficit.After scoring 25 first-half points, the three-pronged attack of Batta, Glenn and Gonzales kept the pressure on in the second. The trio combined to score 28 more points in the second half, keeping the Hornets within range of the lead.

“It was their night,” Jenkins said of his graduating seniors. “That?s all I can say.”Unfortunately it wasn?t enough. The Eagles connected on 15-21 free throws in the second half alone, nine of which came with less than a 1:30 to play. Santa Rosa Junior College transfer Jamal Jones, a recruit of Jenkins while he was a coach with Eastern Washington, was instrumental in the victory for the Eagles.. He scored a team high 18 points.

On Thursday, the Hornets earned their second conference win, blowing out Portland State 77-60. Glenn led the charge with 20 points and Batta added 18. Gonzalez notched a career high eight assists.

The Hornets finish out the year on the road, as they travel to Montana tomorrow and Idaho State on Saturday.