It is not how you start, but how you finish.

The Sacramento State men’s basketball team two game winning streak came to an end on Thursday evening against Southern Utah, 79-67, at the Centrum Arena in Cedar City, Utah. 

Hornets’ star point guard Dylan Garrity made his return to the lineup, finishing the game with a team-high 18 points in 33 minutes of action.

Garrity previously missed the last two games for Sac State due to a back injury suffered Jan. 24 before the game against North Dakota.

The Hornets finished the first half strong with an 11-point lead over the Thunderbirds, 39-26, but found themselves in trouble during the second half. 

Southern Utah’s point guard Damon Heuir and forward Jackson Stevenett combined to score 32 points in the second half that featured Heuir scoring 19 of his game-high 28 points and Stevenett scoring 13 of his total 20 points en route to victory for the Thunderbirds.

Sac State only managed to score 28 points in the second half while Southern Utah erupted with a 53-point scoring display. 

After shooting 44 percent from the field in the first half, the Hornets found themselves ice cold in the second, shooting only 17 percent.

Mikh McKinney followed behind Garrity with 17 points as both guards shot a combined 20-22 at the free-throw line. 

Sac State was hit with another injury in the first half of play when senior center Konner Veteto did not return to the game after injuring his left knee. In six minutes of action, he recorded six points and two rebounds.

The Hornets, who sit fifth in the Big Sky Conference standings, now look forward to a three-game conference home stand as they play host to Northern Arizona on Monday at 7:05 p.m.

All games can be seen on bigskytv.org.

 

 

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