The Sacramento State men’s basketball team opened up their exhibition season on Wednesday in Hornet Gym against EA Sports. The game was decided in the final seconds, with Sac State down by two points with under a minute to go. Rashaad Hooks drove to the basket in an attempt to tie the game, but his shot did not fall. Although the Hornets did get the rebound, they could not find the basket as the last seconds ticked away, resulting in Sac State’s eventual 83-80 loss.

“We didn’t play as well as we wanted,” head coach Jerome Jenkins said. The team struggled early on and Jenkins attributes the problems to a lack of defensive intensity.

The EA Sports team was comprised of players who have finished their collegiate careers and was led by former University of San Francisco player LyRyan Russell. He led all scorers with 24 points. The Hornets leading scorer was Derek Lambeth, who finished with 18 points, and fell just short of the double-double with nine rebounds.

The game was even at halftime, 41-41, with EA Sports making a 6-0 run to start the second half. But Sac State battled back, reclaiming the lead with less than seven minutes to play at 69-68. But the Hornets could not hold on, as Russell hit a 3-pointer late in the game to help EA Sports edge Sac State.

In his first game for the Hornets, junior college transfer Brandon Guyton finished with 14 points while Jimmy White added 10.

“We’ve just got to shake this off,” forward Cedric Thompkins said. “It’s a practice game and we’re going to learn from our mistakes and keep going forward.” Sac State will host its second exhibition game on Sunday at 1 p.m. against a Tribe Called Sweat in the Hornet Gym.