The Sacramento State men’s basketball team led by as many as eight points in the second half, but could not make it hold up, as it lost to Northern Arizona University, 75-71, on Sunday.

The Lumberjacks’ Cameron Jones, the fourth-leading scorer in the Big Sky Conference, led all scorers with 27 points on 9-12 shooting from the field and 9-11 shooting at the free throw line.

The Hornets led 31-28 at the half and led 52-44 at the 9:49 mark of the second half.

However, the defense, which has been solid this season, could not stop the Lumberjacks, as they shot 63 percent from the floor in the second half.

Junior guard Sultan Toles-Bey had his best game in some time, scoring 17 points, including four 3-pointers. Junior forward Duro Bjegovic added 16 points on 6-9 shooting. Senior center Justin Eller and freshman forward John Dickson added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The Hornets shot 46 percent, but were again out-rebounded by an opponent, this time by a 30-24 margin.

The win improves Northern Arizona to 4-4 in Big Sky play and 10-9 overall.

Sac State falls to 1-7 in conference action and 7-14 overall. The Hornets’ last conference road win came in December 2006. The team has lost its last four Big Sky games by an average of six points.

The team finishes its season-long four-game road trip next week, as it travels to Weber State University on Friday to take on the conference-leading Wildcats. It then travels to Idaho State University on Saturday to play the Bengals. The Hornets’ lone conference victory came against Idaho State earlier this season. Both games start at 6:05 p.m.

Dustin Nosler can be reached at [email protected]