In a season full of ups and downs, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team is riding a three-game winning streak and is still in the hunt to make the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

The Hornets snapped their nine-game losing streak in a blowout fashion by 34 points against Northern Arizona University on Jan. 28 winning 77-43.

The win marked the Hornets’ first Big Sky win of the season, their first road win of the season and their biggest margin of victory over a Division I school since joining in 1991.

The following game against the University of Northern Colorado Thursday was historical as well as it marked the Hornets first back-to-back wins since the Dec. 10 California Maritime Academy and Dec. 18 University of North Dakota wins.

The win also marked the Hornets’ first win against Northern Colorado since Feb. 2, 2008 and its first win in Greeley, Colo., in six years.

But the historical winning did not end there.

Saturday’s win against Eastern Washington University marked the Hornets’ first three-game winning streak of the season and first since the 2005-06 season.

It was also the Hornets’ first win at Eastern Washington since Jan. 19, 1995, and after breaking all the losing streaks, freshman point guard Dylan Garrity said the team morale is at its season’s high.

“Our confidence right now as a team is through the roof,” Garrity said. “We don’t think we should lose another game this year. We just needed one win to gain our confidence back and we got it when we blew out (Northern Arizona University).”

The wins against Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington were the Hornets’ first Big Sky road sweep since the Jan. 12 through 14 road trip in 2006.

After being in last place in the Big Sky all season, the Hornets now find themselves in eighth place out of nine teams.

Six of the Big Sky teams make the conference tournament at the end of the year and the Hornets are two games behind the sixth placed team Eastern Washington University.

The rest of the season features games against Montana State University, the University of Montana, two games against Portland State University and a concluding Big Sky game against Idaho State University.

All four teams are currently ranked two through five in the Big Sky.

The Hornets will also face San Jose State University in the ESPN BracketBusters game, but it will not affect where they place in the conference.

With a tough schedule to close out the year, the Hornets will need to continue their great play.

During their three-game winning streak, the Hornets shot the ball at 49 percent from the field compared with 43 percent during their nine-game losing streak.

The Hornets are 6-1 when scoring 70 or more points and 2-13 when scoring less than 70 points.

The team’s first test will be at home Thursday night against Montana State at The Nest and senior center Josh McCarver said they will be ready.

“Thursday’s game, along with every other game, is huge,” McCarver said. “We’re fighting for a spot in the conference tournament and with every win, we get one step closer. We’ll have a strong week of practice and be ready to go on game day.”

Josh Stanley can be reached at [email protected].