In the team’s final game at the Hornets Nest this season, Sacramento State men’s basketball put the finishing touches on a perfect 9-0 record at home in Big Sky Conference play on Saturday by defeating University of North Dakota 74-66.

The victory improved the Hornets’ overall record to 18-8 and put the team at 12-3 in conference play. Both of these marks are bests this late in a season in the Division I era at Sac State, which dates back to 1991.

Sac State overcame a slow start in which the team scored just eight points in the game’s first nine minutes against North Dakota, who entered the game with a record of 8-17 overall and 4-10 in Big Sky play.

“Every one is a fist fight, there are no knockouts,” said Sac State coach Brian Katz. “The teams are so even [in the Big Sky].”

But the Hornets bounced back, ending the half on an 8-0 run that gave the home team a 32-29 advantage going into the break.

Sac State had a strong second half, shooting 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) from the field and making three of four attempted 3-pointers. The Hornets scored 42 points in the period.

The win, coupled with a loss by the University of Eastern Washington Eagles on Saturday afternoon, propelled the Hornets into a first-place tie with University of Montana in the Big Sky. Both Sac State and Montana lead Eastern Washington by a margin of half a game in the standings.

The Hornets were a force from behind the arc Saturday, as the team made eight of 11 (72.7 percent) attempted 3-pointers, nearly triple the rate of North Dakota, who made six of 22 (27.3 percent) from long distance.

It was senior night at The Nest. Before tipoff, Sac State’s four seniors—guards Mikh McKinney and Dylan Garrity, center Alex Tiffin and forward Zach Mills—were honored at the half court stripe in a pregame ceremony, receiving standing ovations as they stood with Katz and loved ones.

“These four guys will be remembered forever,” Katz said.

Garrity, who is the all-time program leader in starts and minutes played, reflected on his final game at The Nest.

“It was very, very emotional,” Garrity said. “I mean, I’ve called this place my home the past four years, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better than that, the way we ended it my senior year with five sellouts.”

Though it was senior night, it was a sophomore that had perhaps the biggest game for the Hornets. Forward Nick Hornsby scored 17 points, making six of 12 attempted field goals, and tallied 11 rebounds in just 28 minutes played. He also had a team-high four steals.

“It was a lot of fun,” Hornsby said. “It was great. It was senior night, and [we] just had to stay focused. But it was a lot of fun, probably the funnest game I had all year.”

Seniors Garrity and McKinney also made an impact.

Garrity attempted just four shots from the floor, but made all of them—including three from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points in 32 minutes. McKinney posted 16 points on six-of-16 shooting from the field, playing just under the full 40 minutes.

“It started off really slow,” Garrity said. “Nobody could really make any shots, and offense just wasn’t really flowing like we usually think it is. But I think our defense was pretty good. They hit some tough shots in the beginning, they got up on us a little bit, but I think we just—we talked about in the huddle, ‘Just keep doing what we’re doing, their shots aren’t going to fall all the time.’”

Mills contributed 13 points on five-of-seven shooting from the field in 29 minutes played off the bench. Tiffin added four points and four rebounds from the bench before fouling out in the final 30 seconds.

The Hornets trailed North Dakota 16-8 at the 10:58 mark in the first half. Sac State shot just 12-for-32 (37.5 percent) from the floor before halftime.

“We’re not doing anything bad or horrible,” Garrity said. “We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and just play Hornet basketball. That’s what we’ve got to do, we’ve got to play Hornet basketball.”

The Hornets will finish the Big Sky regular season on the road. If they finish the season atop the conference standings, the team will return to campus to host the Big Sky Conference Championship from The WELL on March 12-14.

Sac State will tip off next on the road at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, against Portland State University.