The Sacramento State men’s basketball team lost in front of a sellout crowd Thursday evening at the Nest, falling to Portland State 94-88. The loss eliminated the Hornets from tournament contention.

The Hornets were dealt a big blow when junior center Konner Veteto fouled out of the game with 7:23 left in the second half.

With the absence of Veteto’s defensive play, the Hornets lacked a physical presence in the paint. The Vikings were able to grab an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and score an uncontested layup following Veteto’s exit to put them up by three points.

From there, the Hornets never had an answer for the Vikings’ physical play down low.

The Vikings’ guards’ penetration to the basket forced Sac State’s defense to collapse, leaving Vikings shooters with uncontested looks, which drastically impacted the outcome of the game. The Vikings shot five-for-seven from 3-point territory in the second half.

Portland State was led by Charles Odum’s career-high 38 points, 27 of which came in the second half.

“He was the difference of the game,” head coach Brian Katz said. “We just couldn’t guard him. We switched out of one, switched out of two. We tried to play man, tried to play zone and tried face-guarding him.”

The two teams battled it out to the end in front of the sellout crowd in a game which saw 14 lead changes and nine ties.

Both teams started the game flat. The Hornets had four early turnovers and did not score in the first three minutes.

Sac State’s John Dickson started firing on all cylinders offensively midway through the first half. Dickson finished the game with a career-high 26 points.

Dickson’s teammates quickly saw the Vikings had no defensive answer for the junior forward and isolated the match up.

“I wanted to attack them,” Dickson said. “They like to jump and block shots. I wanted to get them in the air and see what I could do.”

At halftime, Portland State led the Hornets 38-37. When play resumed, both teams came out trading baskets. Portland State nursed a five point lead until a two-handed slam by Veteto got the Hornets and the crowd right back into the ball game.

The biggest lead for the Hornets came at the 15:14 mark in the second half when they were up by three points after trailing by as many as 10 earlier in the contest.

With a little more than six minutes left in the game, Portland State went on an 8-0 run which was sparked by a couple of Hornets turnovers to build another comfortable 10 point lead with 3:42 to play. Odum shot 6-of-7 from the field in the second half, including a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc.

Freshman Dylan Garrity finished with 18 points and 13 assists for Sac State. Garrity is now ranked sixth in Div. I basketball with 7.1 assists per game.

Sac State now turns its attention to the last game of the season at Idaho State on Saturday. The Hornets lost to the Bengals 68-67 at the Nest on Jan. 14.

“We have to do things right no matter what,” Dickson said. “Just because we’re not making the playoffs does not mean we’re going to give up this game.”

Gabriel Pacheco can be reached at [email protected].