Sacramento State was seven seconds away from ending its three-game losing streak.

But a 3-pointer from San Jose State’s Brett Lilly and a 3-pointer that banked in at the end of regulation from Marquin Chandler sent the game into overtime, where the Spartans outscored the Hornets 18-10.

Sac State’s Joseth Dawson converted two critical free throws after Lilly’s 3-pointer, but Chandler was able to nail the 26-foot shot as time expired.

The Hornets only converted 2-of-9 shots from the floor in extra time as San Jose State (3-3) took the 85-77 win.

After trailing 35-21 at the half the Hornets outscored the Spartans 46-32 in the second half. Four Spartans finished in double figures, including guard Eric Walton who scored a game-high 27 points.

For the fourth game in a row Sac State shot poorly in the first half, missing 10 3-pointers and shooting just 22.2 percent from the floor. Sac State was led by Jameel Pugh and Brandon Guyton who each scored 14 points. With Cedric Thompkins and Tony Champion in foul trouble, freshman forward Alex Bausley recorded career-highs with 22 minutes and 10 points.

The Hornets’ leading scorer on the season, Dawson, finished with 13 points, converting seven free throws and shooting 2-of-11 from the floor. Senior Joel Jones also added 10 points.

San Jose State’s Michael McFadden scored 11 of his 17 points in overtime while Lilly added 12 points and Phil Calvert tallied 10.

The Hornets dropped a home game earlier in the week to Saint Mary’s, 88-74. Sac State shot only 32 percent in the first half and 36 percent for the game.

“We got six more games until conference and I don’t want to show everything,” head coach Jerome Jenkins said. “There is a method to my madness. I’ve been doing this for a while now and I am very confident in my players and I am very confident in my players that they are going to get the job done.”

Sac State was led by Dawson who scored 18 points and knocked down three 3-pointers. Saint Mary’s guard Paul Marigney had the hot hand, leading all-scorers with 19 points and shooting 9-of-12 from the field.

The Hornets press struggled to disrupt the Gaels, who took a 42-30 lead into the half.

“We knew we had to play hard,” Marigney said. “We learned from the USC game that once we controlled the game, then that’s basically it.”

The Gaels were coming off a heartbreaking 84-83 loss to the Trojans in overtime. The post play of Daniel Kickert (17 points) and Frederic Adriano (11 points) kept the Hornets from making a run.

Saint Mary’s finished with five players in double figures, including guards E.J. Rowland and Tyler Herr who had 18 and 12 points, respectively.

“We’re going to go to the drawing board and devise a new blueprint,” Pugh said. “I think the way we start the game is really dictating how we end it… The fact that we are getting off to these slow starts is really putting into the position where we are backed into a corner and having to fight out.”

Sac State had only 15 turnovers compared with the Gaels’ 21 and hit eight 3-pointers as Saint Mary’s netted only four. But the difference was the Gaels 30-of-53 shooting compared with Sac State’s 22-of-61.

“We just got to get it together as a group,” Dawson said. “We still got to get the chemistry together between us. We show spurts of ourselves showing chemistry. Then we’ll lose that spurt and that chemistry… We just have to let the game come to us. Force tempo and force our style of play.”

Sac State’s full-court press did not disrupt their opponents’ offense as it had in previous games.

At times, Saint Mary’s players were left alone under the basket or able to finish the play with an uncontested basket.

“That’s just miscommunication or somebody missing their assignment,” Dawson said. “Mental breakdowns, that’s what gets us. We got to nip those things in the bud.”

Jones and Guyton were the two other Hornets in double figures, each scoring 14 points.