Poor shooting in the second half and turnovers hurt the Sacramento State basketball team in its 84-81 loss to the Northern Colorado Bears.

Before tip-off, the Bears seemed to have all the fierce characteristics that Sac State lacked, point guard Kris Groce said after the loss,

“We were lacking intensity from the start,” Groce said, “anyone that has seen us play at home knows we don’t come out and play like that.”

From the beginning of the game until halftime, both teams were locked in a furious fast-break contest.

Northern Colorado dictated the tempo of the entire game. Northern Colorado point guard Thanasi Panagiotakopoulos had a game high 8 assists and found center Kirk Archibeque often. Archibeque led the game with 23 points.

Both teams weren’t playing a lot of defense, but the game still managed to be physical and there were a lot of fouls called on both teams.

Both teams were called for 27 personal fouls each and the teams took a combined 75 foul shots. Sac State made 40 attempts and Northern Colorado 35.

Despite their troubles, Sac State went into halftime with the lead, 39 to 35.

Sophomore guard Loren Leath lead the attack for the Hornets, scoring 21 points to go with 6 rebounds.

The Hornets seemed to be going into the second half with everything going for them, but Northern Colorado wasn’t out yet.

Sac State coach Jerome Jenkins said after the game that the team is “very immature” and doesn’t have the leadership it had in the past.

And that summed up the Hornets’ play in the second half. Northern Colorado came out and took the lead 48 to 43 15 minutes in the second half. Except for Sac State tying it 63 to 63 with four minutes and 32 seconds left, they never looked back as they never let Sac State take the lead.

The Hornets never gave up and were in it until the final buzzer. They was down by three and had the ball with a little over a second left on the clock.

The game ended with Groce heaving a desperation shot from half court.

With only seven games left for the Hornets this season this loss is especially hurtful, but the Sac State basketball team still firmly believes they can make the playoffs.

“When we lose and people are mad about it, it means we are building expectations, so it’s getting back where we need to be,” Jenkins said.

Lamont Weaver can be reached at [email protected]