The Sacramento State men’s basketball won its second Big Sky Conference game at the free throw line in a 80-72 game against defending conference tournament champions Montana.

The Hornets improved to 2-1 in conference and 7-8 overall.

With the score at 73-69 in the Hornets’ favor and 00:46 left to go on the clock, the Hornets sealed the win by hitting seven of eight free throws.

“To be the champs we got to go through the champs,” senior forward Alex Bausley said. “These are the type of teams we got to beat to go to the tournament.”

Bausley was second on the Hornets for scoring with 16 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 shooting past the three point line.

Coach Jerome Jenkins saw his team play with a lot of effort and said it was a great win for the team to beat Montana.

“We expect to win games, we just got to get back on the drawing board and get ready for Saturday,” Jenkins said

The Hornets were strong in the first half, leading the Grizzles 38-26 with only one lead change. The Hornets were also plus six in turnovers leading to 17 points.

“We were playing hard, we were getting defensive stops, and we were making shots, that was the biggest thing,” Bausley said. “We just want to keep building from this, keep improving and come back Saturday and get another win.”

In the second half, the Hornets looked to fight off Montana’s comeback surge, as the Grizzles closed in within six, with under two minutes left to go on the clock.

Guard Haron Hargrave broke out in the second half, as he scored 11 points including 2-for-2 on the line. Hargrave led team for the fifth time this season with 17 points. Junior center Angel Alamo scored 15 points to go with six rebounds.

With the win, the Hornets are now setting their sights on their next Big Sky opponent. The Hornets will host Idaho State on Saturday and look to improve its conference record.

“(The win) give us more momentum going into the Idaho State game and give us more momentum in Big Sky play,” Hargrave said.

The game was also the debut junior Kris Groce, who tallied 10 assists against six turnovers.

Matthew Beltran can be reached at [email protected].