Even when the ball drops, it seems that the Sac State men?s basketball team can?t catch the breaks.

On a two-game road trip that carried them through Montana State and Weber State, the Hornets topped the 80-point barrier twice. That?s a mark they hadn?t hit since they played UC Riverside nearly a month ago, but they still couldn?t muster a win.

“I love when teams play us man-to-man,” said head coach Jerome Jenkins. “We can pick up on defensive match-ups. I?m very pleased with our man offense.”

Known throughout the Big Sky for their quick and stingy defense, head coach Jerome Jenkins watched as his club gave up 98 points in consecutive games, losing 98-82 to Montana State and 98-88 against Weber State.

“I wasn?t pleased with our defensive effort, even though we forced a lot of our turnovers,” said Jenkins. “They (Hornets) played hard, but they play much harder at home.”

In Bozeman, Mont., there was little that the Hornets (4-19, 1-11) could do to stop the Big Sky?s sharpest shooting team. Montana State shot 57.6 percent from the floor, while connecting on nine three-pointers.

The Bengals? Pete Conaway led the push with a team-high 18 points off the bench. Conaway cashed in on all six of his field goal attempts, including 4-4 from behind the three-point arc.

With the game knotted up at 11-11, the Bengals (16-10, 7-5) pieced together a couple of short runs to open up a 13-point advantage at the half, 58-45.

The Hornets were able to decrease their deficit to 77-67 with 7:57 left, but the Bengals tore back with another timely 18-9 run, giving them all the cushion they would need.

Rame Batta, the starting point guard for the Hornets, led the swarm with a game-high 19 points. Batta, who ranks second in the Big Sky in free throw shooting, connected on all nine of his free throw attempts.

The Hornets as a team shot 87.1 percent from the charity stripe, netting 27-31.

Seniors Rickie Glenn and Pablo Gonzales continued their consistent play, chipping in 17 and 12 points, respectively.

Both Glenn and Gonzales, who rank among the top ten scorers in the Big Sky, watched their production increase dramatically against the Weber State Wildcats, but the Hornets still dropped the back-end of their two-game road swing, 98-88.

Gonzales set a career high with 28 points on 12-20 shooting, while Glenn was one point shy of tying his career high with 26.

“They carried us,” Jenkins said of his sharp shooting seniors. “I?m pleased with what they?re trying to do.”

While Glenn and Gonzales were busy shouldering a bulk of the Hornets? scoring, the Wildcats looked to their bench. Weber State (13-11, 8-6), who boasts the Big Sky?s top point producer in Jermaine Boyette, got a big lift from their reserve players.

The Wildcats? bench came to life, netting 50 points, led by Chris Woods. Woods contributed 16 points, while grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. Woods was one of three nonstarters to score in double-digits for the Wildcats.

“They played well,” Jenkins said. “It was a good team effort from Weber.”

The Hornets, who trailed throughout the game, narrowed the deficit to five points with just over five minutes on the clock, but they couldn?t quite muster a full comeback.

The 10-point loss was the closest defeat the Hornets have had in team history at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah. The previous four meetings in Ogden saw the Hornets losing by an average of 31.6 points per game.

The two road losses also shattered the Hornets? hopes of reaching the postseason, most notably the season-ending Big Sky Tournament.

Sac State now turns its attention to Portland State, whom they will host tomorrow night in Hornet Gym at 7:05.