Joe Dawson and Joel Jones combined to score over 57 percent of Sacramento State’s points this past weekend. The Hornet’s, however, saw their conference road-losing streak extend to 44 games.

The weekend started with a tough 86-83 loss at Portland State University Friday and ended with an 87-67 pounding from Eastern Washington University the next night.

No other player scored in double digits for the Hornets during the road swing.

“(Jones and Dawson) are a big part of our arsenal,” head coach Jerome Jenkins said. “But we need to get more players involved.”

Dawson scorched Portland State for 30 points Friday, but it was his costly turnover with 20 seconds remaining and the Hornets leading 83-82 that led to a Billy Feeney go-ahead basket.

Ronnie Walton’s attempt to answer Feeney’s basket was blocked by Viking forward Anthony Lackey. After recovering his own blocked shot, Lackey was immediately fouled by Jones. Lackey proceeded to seal the game with two free throws.

The Hornets, who trailed 74-69 with 6:33 remaining, used a 12-4 run, capped off by a Dawson 3-pointer, to take a 81-78 lead with 1:33 remaining.

With 23 seconds left, the Vikings Aaron Fitzgerald converted two free throws to cut the Hornet lead down to a point.

The Viking defense took advantage of the made free throw by setting up their full-court press. Dawson took the inbound pass and attempted to squeeze by the press but stepped out of bounds. Ten seconds later, Jeb Ivey found a wide-open Feeney, who gave Portland State the lead for good.

“We figure we will be in that situation in the future,” said Jenkins, who cites practice and execution as the solution to turnaround the Hornets 1-6 record in games decided by less than 10 points.

On Saturday, Eastern Washington took advantage of a flat Hornet squad, using a 23-5 first half run to open up a 24-8 lead. The Hornets were unable to cut the lead back down to single digits, and the Eagles went on to hand the Hornets their third consecutive loss with an 87-67 blowout.

Guard Alvin Snow and forward Chris Hester led the dismantling of the Hornet defense with 25 points apiece. The two combined to shoot 70 percent (21 of 30) from the field, as Snow converted on 4 of 5 3-pointers.

Eastern Washington scored 51 points alone on layups, slam dunks and free throws.

“We need to pick up our defensive intensity on the road,” Jenkins said.

Dawson (24 points) and Jones (12 points) carried the Hornets for the second-straight game. The duo has led the Hornets in scoring six of their seven conference games.

The Hornets will next return home to Hornet Gym to face Weber State University on Friday, and Idaho State University Saturday. Both games will tip-off at 7:05 PM.