The Sacramento State men’s

basketball team (2-1) lost its first game of the season at

Washington State University (1-1) 79-68 after leading the Pac-12

team by three at halftime Thursday night in Pullman, Wash.

Junior forward John Dickson led all

Hornets with 21 points and freshman point guard Dylan Garrity

recorded a season-high 12 assists and now averages 8.3 assists per

game.

Junior forward Joe Eberhard was

named Big Sky Conference player of the week last week and scored 16

points on 6-of-13 shooting and added a season-high 12 rebounds

against the Cougars.

Garrity and Eberhard have both

logged 35 plus minutes in all three games this season and they look

to be the two leaders for the Hornets.

The Hornets started the game on a

7-0 run and were up by 13 points more than half way into the first

half, but foul trouble left the door open for the Cougars to climb

back in.

The Hornets led 39-36 at halftime

and looked to be a real threat.

In the second half, the Hornets

played back-and-forth basketball and were tied 51-51 with 11

minutes remaining but got into foul trouble yet again.

The Hornets put the Cougars into the

bonus for the last 10 minutes of the game and found themselves down

10 points with only 5:38 remaining.

Poor free throw shooting by the

Cougars let the Hornets back in the game. Sac State was down only

six points with 4:37 remaining thanks to jump shots by Eberhard and

senior Walter Jackson.

The Cougars responded to the

Hornets’ rally with a 9-3 run, which put them up by 12 points and

sealed their 11-point win.

Junior forward Brock Motum led the

Cougars with 23 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Faisal Aden

came of the bench and had 18 points and five steals and freshman

guard DaVonte Lacy was the third Cougar with double digit points

with 15.

The Hornets shot 48.2 percent from

the field and 37.5 percent from behind the arch.

The Hornets shot 8-for-12 from the

free throw line but 17 turnovers and 25 fouls plagued the Hornets

all game long.

The Hornets were without junior

center Konner Veteto, junior guard Jordan Estrada and sophomore

guard Jackson Carbajal – all three of whom are nursing

injuries.

This was the Cougars’ 22nd

consecutive home opening win and they are now 41-0 all-time at home

in the month of November.

The Hornets will look to shake off

their first loss when they head into Tuesday’s matchup with the UC

Davis Aggies. The basketball version of the Causeway Classic will

tip off at 7:05 p.m. at the Pavilion in Davis.