The fans that filed into the Hornets Nest Thursday night saw another exciting finish only this time the outcome did not end up in the Hornets favor.

The Sacramento State men’s basketball team lost to the Bears of Northern Colorado 66-59.

Coming out of the gates the scoreboard looked as if the Hornets baseball team was playing as Sac State . The Hornets took an early 6-5 lead.

All the excitement in the Hornets Nest quickly disbursed as one of the referees left the game with an injury. Although he was able to leave under his own power, the men dressed in pinstripes were forced to ref the rest of the game undermanned.

The two team’s contrasting styles was present from the beginning of the game as Sacramento State wanted to spread the floor and work the shot clock for some easy baskets. The Bears on the other hand wanted to go, go, go – taking shots quickly and converting on transition baskets every chance they had.

The Bears had all the momentum during the first 13 minutes of the game, but missed opportunities kept the Hornets in the game.

Northern Colorado’s much quicker offense found its way with 13:56 remaining in the first half.

The Bears’ Jabril Banks found his stroke as Northern Colorado turned what was a 1-point lead into a 23-14 lead in a span of 4:14.

For the rest of the half the two squads kept trading baskets. Sac State kept chipping away at the deficit and at halftime the Hornets were only down a manageable seven points, 35-28.

Head Coach Brian Katz felt his young team needed to get ahead in the turnover margin in order to get ahead on the scoreboard.

“The last game we won [72-69, Idaho State], we only had four [turnovers]. If we can keep that number, we’ll be good.”

Senior guard Loren Leath began the second half on fire. Leath scored the Hornets first eight points in the second half.

“I just [knew] that it’s two half of basketball,” Leath said, “I was not making my shots in the first half and I can’t let that affect me so I just went out there and played ball.”

Leath finished the game with 18 points on 6 of 14 shooting, three rebounds and one assist.

With 13:06 left in regulation, The Hornets took its first lead in the game since midway through the first half.

Guard Antonio Flaggs hit a 3-pointer to conclude a 16-8 run by the Hornets. After taking the lead, with just under ten minutes left the wheels began to fall off the wagon for the Hornets.

“We had three big turnovers in a row. Bad pass, travel, three bad and very untimely turnovers in a row” Katz said.

Although they kept it close, Banks and the Bears proved to be too much for Sac State.

In the last minute the Hornets tried to come back but sloppy play sealed the deal for Northern Colorado.

“Toward the end of the game, we were just trying to execute and get the best shot possible” center Randy Adams [10 rebounds, seven points, one assist] said.

Even with the loss, Katz players are staying optimistic.

“It lets us know that we can play with anybody. We were just a couple plays from winning the game. It was a fun game to be a part of” Adams said.

The Hornets [1-8, 2-20] will try to get back on the winning track when they travel to Eastern Washington [3-6, 9-12] to take on the Eagles.

Andrew Hazard can be reached at [email protected]