If missed opportunities counted for something, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team would probably be undefeated in the Big Sky Conference.

If the Hornets made just four of many lay-ups and short jumpers that rimmed up, out and over the basket against Eastern Washington on Saturday night, then maybe they would have another conference win.

If a few offensive foul calls against Sac State were reversed then maybe the Hornets would have visited the free-throw line just a few more times.

And if there was an “if” stat in the box score then Sac State would surely be leading the Big Sky.

But there isn’t.

“It just didn’t go our way,” Sac State guard Joseth Dawson said after playing in the final 17 minutes of regulation.

The Eagles controlled the last two minutes of the game with made free-throws and defensive stops and Sac State never came closer than a two-point deficit before losing 68-62.

“We knew Eastern Washington was going to be a very physical team but bottom line is we just didn’t make plays,” Sac State head coach Jerome Jenkins said. “We just didn’t penetrate all the chip shots around the basket early and that kind of put us in a hole…We have to finish plays to beat a good team like that, unfortunately we didn’t get that done tonight.”

The Hornets are now 7-9 overall and 1-2 in the Big Sky, but lucky for them the race to the Big Sky title has just begun. There are no undefeated teams, no front-runners and no gimmie-games.

“This conference is up for us,” Dawson said. “Basically it’s up for a big time race. This conference is wide open. Any given team can get beat on any given night.”

Dawson helped keep things close in the closing minutes.

Although he shot only 5-of-16 from the field he accomplished in the closing moments what Sac State had struggled to do in the first half. He dribbled his way into the lane and forced the Eagles to either allow him to go to rim unscathed or foul him before he got there.

Dawson scored a team-high 19 points and shot 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

Eastern Washington’s physical defense seemed to throw Sac State off balance early in the first half. The Eagles extended a 29-19 lead before the Hornets closed the gap to end the half down just 30-28.

“Our first thing was to keep penetration on the floor which we didn’t do a great job,” Eastern Washington head coach Ray Giacoletti said. “But we got bailed out with some charges. That is the thing that I think helped us more than anything because we were able to step up, take three or four charges and I think they were a little bit hesitant to punch it and they settled for jumpers.”

But despite all the missed inside shots with just 38 seconds left in the game — after Dawson sunk two free throws — the game was still up for grabs, 62-60 in favor of Eastern Washington.

Guard E.J. Harris fouled the Eagles’ Josh Barnard on the inbound pass and Barnard was able to drop his free throws putting the Hornets in a four-point hole that they couldn’t climb out of this time.

“I don’t even know what to say right now,” Sac State forward Chris Lange said after a 13-point effort. “I am just at a loss for words. It hurts really bad right now. It was just one of those games where we did everything we had to except win.”

Sac State alternated defenses from man-to man to zone, but never seemed to find a way to stop Eastern Washington’s Marc Axton. The 6-foot-7 forward scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

Although the Hornet defense did force the Eagles into 15 turnovers and had a 32-29 rebounding advantage (13 on the offensive glass) it was the Eagles patience on offense that was the key to the game. When the Hornet defense broke down — allowing backdoor passes or two-foot jumpers — the Eagles very rarely failed to take advantage, dishing out 18 assists.

Eastern Washington shot 56.8 percent from the floor compared to Sac State’s 37.7 percent.

Two other players finished in double figures for Eastern Washington. Barnard and guard Alvin Snow both scored 14 points respectively.

Sac State will now travel to Idaho State (5-11, 2-1) on Thursday and defending conference champion Weber State (8-8, 1-2) on Saturday. Both games can be heard on 1380 at 6:05 p.m.

“Any given night we can beat a team on the road even though our past history hasn’t been good,” Dawson said. “We’re going to get it done this year.”