The men?s basketball team took Sacramento State one step closer to winning the Causeway Cup this year. The Hornets beat the Aggies by 23 points finishing at 100-77.

This is the third time the Hornets have hit the century mark this year and the second time in regular season play.

Last year?s meeting at UC Davis ended with a win for the Hornets 72-67. This year, the Hornets outshot the Aggies 46.8 percent to 38.1 percent with a 38.5 percentage from three point range and 66.7 percent from the free thrown line.

Angel Alamo led the team with seven rebounds; five of them offensive.

“I was just trying to contribute. We?ve got scorers, we?ve got Haron Hargrave, Loren Leath. We just need to fill in with rebounders,” Alamo said.

Alamo, a junior transfer student, fouled out for the first time in his career at Sac State.

“I was just trying to stay active in every play and do my part,” Alamo said.

Sophomore Loren Leath led the team with 28 points with 19 in the first half. Leath went 6-11 from three point range and had three steals.

“Last year we were playing hard and we had the lead in the first half, but we let them come back in the game. This year we wanted to come out and play hard in the first five minutes and put our foot down,” Leath said.

Jerome Jenkins said he was not at all afraid to play Justin Williams although Williams was ejected from the game during the Hornets last meeting with Davis.

“Justin?s a warrior and he just let the emotions get the better of him last time,” Jenkins said.

Williams lead the team with four blocks in his 16 minutes of play.

The Hornets were out rebounded 49-41 by the Aggies, but Jenkins isn?t discouraged.

“We?re rebounding a lot better than last year, we just want to win,” Jenkins said.

The Hornets had only 17 turnovers while forcing the Aggies into 30.

“We just need to keep playing hard and keep our heads up,” Leath said.

In his 38 minutes, Haron Hargrave contributed 22 points and four assists and despite a low field goal percentage (37.5 percent), the senior went 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

Senior forward Alex Bausley, the Big Sky?s player of the week last week, had 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in 23 minutes of play.

Elizabeth Wilson can be reached at [email protected]