Sacramento State?s men?s basketball team ventured to Memphis, Tenn. for the Guardians Classic Tuesday and played Old Dominion in the opening round, then Wofford the following day.

Although Sac State ended up with losses to both teams to begin the season, Hornet coach Jerome Jenkins felt his squad played pretty “evenly” against Old Dominion in a 69-52 defeat and “controlled” most of the versus Wofford before falling 56-46.

“The competition was very good experience for us,” Jenkins said. “I am the only coach in history to have the courage to take my team to the (Guardians Classic).”

Jenkins felt that the exposure and learning experience gained from the event was a must in order for Sac State to improve. Such was the case with his former team, Eastern Washington University. “(The Guardians Classic) helped us in the long run,” he said.

Junior Rashaad Hooks led the Hornets in scoring against Old Dominion with 11 points while Jimmy White grabbed six boards.

In the waning moments of Sac State?s match versus Wofford, the Hornets went on a scoring drought, failing to hit a field goal in over eight minutes toward the end of the game as they eventually fell to 0-2 in the preseason.

Rene Jacques led the Hornets with 15 points followed by White with six points and a more impressive rebounding performance with nine boards. Despite returning home winless from the tournament, Jenkins remained positive going into Sac State?s first home game of the season Saturday against Menlo College at 1:05 p.m.

“There is no question we will do better than last season,” said Jenkins, who aspires to earn a Big Sky Conference tournament berth this season. “Look out for Sac State basketball this year.”