Sophomore guard Loren Leath led the Sacramento State Hornets to a 107-73 win over the Bethany University Bruins on Friday night at the Nest to open up the regular season.

Leath had 23 points on 7-11 shooting, including 6-7 from three-point range.

In the first half the Hornets took off with a lead as big as 21 points before leading 60-42 at the half. In the second half the Bruins cut the lead to 12 at 74-62 after a three-pointer by Gabe Jenkins. That was as close as Bethany would get as the Hornets went on a 33-11 run to end the game.

Senior forward Alex Bausley filled up the stat sheet recording 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Junior forward/center Angel Alamo had 17 points on 8-12 from the floor.

The Bruins hurt themselves from the line as they went a miserable 18-33 from the charity stripe. Bethany forward Jon Bell led the way for his team with 22 points and 12 rebounds, but could have had even bigger numbers if not for 8-17 shooting from the line.

Hornets Head Coach Jerome Jenkins was happy that his team won, but thought that they gave up too many points.

“The team is still growing and I hope the fans will be patient with us,” Jenkins said. “We’re sharing the basketball better than in the past and I have to give credit to the team because we’re winning games.”

Leath, who hit back-to-back threes to open the game, knew he had the stroke going right from tip-off.

“I knew when I hit those first two it was going to be a threes night,” Leath said.

Despite the fact that the Hornets were supposed to beat Bethany, Leath insisted that the team did not take them for granted.

“We still came out with emotion for this game,” he said. “We have a tough game on Sunday against New Mexico and we know that we have to take it one game at a time.”

Junior forward Davon Roberts came off the bench to deliver some much needed board work, finishing with 10 points and four rebounds (all offensive) in the game.

Rebounding will be a point of emphasis for the team all season and Roberts will be relied upon to get the tough boards.

“I pride myself on getting offensive rebounds,” Roberts said. “I feel like that’s my role and I have to get those second chance points.”

Sac State recorded 17 steals and six blocks in the game. Alamo and junior point guard Rod Adams each had four steals. The Hornets also held the rebounding edge at 38-23. Justin Williams recorded 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

The Hornets shot 60.6 percent (43-71) from the field and were 7-10 from deep.

The team’s next game is at noon on Sunday at New Mexico.