Down two with seven seconds to go, Sacramento State coach Jerome Jenkins decided to go for the win.

Junior forward Alex Bausley’s 3-pointer missed right and Montana won 73-71.

“We were going for the win,” Jenkins said. “We just didn’t get a great look at the basket.”Montana (14-3, 4-1) was able to handle Sac State’s (13-7, 4-2) swarming press, using guard Bryan Ellis as the primary ball-handler.

Ellis finished the game with nine points, including his first basket at 7:33 in the second half, a fade-away 3-pointer with just three seconds left on the shot clock to put Montana up 12.

The Hornets tried to come back from a second-half double-digit deficit for the second game in a row. Thursday, the Hornets rallied back against Montana State only to lose in the final minutes. Jason Harris, who returned for his first conference game after sitting out because of academics, tied the game with a tip-in with just 39 seconds left.

Montana answered as Kevin Criswell drove to the basket and layed the ball in.

Harris finished the game with 21, Criswell finished with 14.

Leading the Grizzlies was sophomore forward Andrew Strait who scored 25 points on 11 of 15 shooting.

The Hornets allowed Montana to shoot 56 percent while shooting 39 themselves.

“We are playing hard (on defense),” Harris said. “But obviously we aren’t playing hard enough.”

The Hornets will now go on the road for three games, beginning with Northern Arizona, who is undefeated in conference play.