It took two overtimes to do it, but Sacramento State came out of Flagstaff, Ariz., on Saturday with their first ever Big Sky Conference road victory in 48 attempts. The Hornets (6-8 overall, 1-1 in Big Sky) outscored Northern Arizona (9-5, 0-1) 10-6 in double overtime to escape with an 85-81 victory.

Earlier this season, the Hornets snapped a 39-game road-losing streak against Cal Poly.

The win comes four days after Sac State lost 65-52 at Portland State in their Big Sky opener.

“I was really hard on the team after the Portland State loss,” Hornet head coach Jerome Jenkins said, “but they came back and responded.”

Point guard Raashad Hooks led the Hornet defensive effort against Northern Arizona with 14 points, four assists, four rebounds, seven steals and a blocked shot. Sac State, who led the Big Sky with 9.33 steals coming into the week, recorded 16 against Northern Arizona.

“To give ourselves a chance to win we are going to have to defend,” said Jenkins, whose team is currently missing three players due to academic ineligibility.

On the offensive end, forward Jimmy White led Sac State with 19 points and 11 rebounds in 48 minutes. Small forward Derek Lambeth connected on 3-of-4 shots from 3-point range, while finishing with 15 points.

Power forward Ryan McDade led the Lumberjack offense with 27 points and 13 rebounds.

Against Portland State, the Hornets were led by 15 points from Lambeth, but shot only 34 percent from the field. Viking shooting guard Kevin Briggs led the Vikings with 21 points.

Forward Leo Cravey rejoined the team versus Portland State after missing the first 12 games due to academic ineligibility. Guards David Joiner and Joseth Dawson and forward Cedric Thompkins still remain academically ineligible.

The Hornets will next head down south to face Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Tuesday at 7 p.m. They will finish their seven-game road trip with a Saturday match-up against Big Sky favorite Eastern Washington.