After losing four straight games, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team got back in the win column Saturday with a 66-38 home win over California Maritime Academy.

The 38 points the Keelhaulers points was the lowest Sac State has allowed since 1963 when it lost to Humboldt State University 37-31. The least amount of points the Hornets have allowed and won was during the 1961-62 season when the Hornets won 55-29 against Humboldt State.

Junior forward John Dickson said playing smarter defense was a key to holding the Keelhaulers (6-7) to only 38 points.

“We really played smart,” Dickson said. “The post guys kept their hands up and we didn’t really look to foul. We just came over and put our hands up and helped. We communicated a lot.”

Junior center Konner Veteto came off the bench and recorded his first career double-double for the Hornets with 14 points and a career-high and game-high 10 rebounds.

“I’ve been battling injuries since the first game at Menlo,” Veteto said. “It’s good to finally get healthy and be able to play to my ability.”

The Hornets outrebounded the Keelhaulers 47-26 and head coach Brian Katz said that was a huge help against a committed Keelhaulers team.

“(The Keelhaulers) play hard and they’re organized,” Katz said. “They just don’t have a lot of size, obviously that was an advantage for us tonight.”

Dickson led the Hornets in scoring with a game-high 16 points and freshman point guard Dylan Garrity had a nine points, six rebounds and a game-high six assists. Garrity has led the Hornets in assists in all nine games.

The Keelhaulers started the game 0-for-11 from the field before they made their first field goal. Halfway through the first half the Hornets were up 15-2.

After turning the ball over nine times in the first 12 minutes, the Hornets tightened things up and only had two turnovers to close out the half.

The Hornets took care of the ball on both ends of the court and the Hornets were able to slowly bury the Keelhaulers into a 12-point deficit by halftime.

In the second half, the Hornets continued dominating and never lost their double-digit lead. The closest the Keelhaulers got in the second half was 40-29 with 12 minutes remaining, but the Hornets closed out the final 10 minutes of the game with a 22-7 run.

Sac State held the Keelhaulers without a field goal in the final 5:43 of the game.

The Hornets defense also held the Keelhaulers to under 20 points in both halves and limited them to only 26 percent shooting from the field.

The Hornets led throughout the game and were up by double digits from the 13-minute mark in the first half to the final buzzer.

Senior center Josh McCarver finished the game 2-for-4 with four points and one rebound, block and steal. McCarver is now 20-for-24 from the field on the season and Katz said he is the type of player that knows his role and does exactly what’s asked of him.

“(McCarver) only shoots shots he can make,” Katz said. “He’s really smart and he plays his role to perfection. A lot of guys want to shoot shots, they want to kind of get outside themselves and play a role that is not really theirs. What I like about (McCarver) is he knows who he is. He knows what he’s good at. He can screen and he can finish around the rim and rebound and that is what he trying to do.”

The monumental victory could not have come at a better time for the Hornets who now only have two more games before heading into Big Sky Conference play.

The Hornets next game will be Dec. 18 at home against the University of North Dakota at 5:05 p.m.

 

Josh Stanley can be reached at [email protected].