Starting the game one-for-12 wasn’t the way Sacramento State (10-5, 1-0) wanted to begin their first game without Jason Harris.

Freeman not scoring his first field goal until less than three minutes left wasn’t helping either.

And playing the defending Big Sky Champions Portland State couldn’t have helped matters.

The slow starts by the team and Freeman didn’t hinder them however, as they defeated Portland State 76-60 in the Hornets Nest.

Leading the charge for the Hornets was junior Alex Bausley who had 21 points and five assists.

Bausley said that the team will continue to play and share the ball like they always do, despite the loss of Harris.

Softening the blow of the early missed shots was the defense as the Hornets never trailed by more than four points.

“We never lost our confidence.” coach Jerome Jenkins said.

The Hornets shot 52 percent from that point on and forced the Vikings into 24 turnovers.But the story was all about forward Jason Harris who has been declared academically ineligible.

“Of course losing (Harris) creates a void.” Sophomore Davon Roberts said. “Everyone has to step up.”

Roberts did just that, scoring a career-high nine points and posting three offensive rebounds.

After building a halftime lead of seven, Jenkins said he told the team at halftime that Portland State was tired and that they wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace.

Using the entire bench, the Hornets were able to press the Vikings as their lead grew to 21 on a Leath shot with 5:19 to go.

The freshman finished the game with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, leading a bench that scored 30 points overall.

Leading the Vikings was Juma Kamara who had 17 points.

The Hornets next game will be at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Hornets Nest when they take on Eastern Washington.