With three games of league play remaining, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team finds itself in the thick of a three-way fight for the top spot in the Big Sky Conference.

The Hornets’ Saturday night 74-66 victory over University of North Dakota strengthened the 2014-15 squad’s case for being considered the best team in school history. The win gave Sac State a record of 18-8 overall and 12-3 in Big Sky play, and capped off a perfect 9-0 league season at the Hornets Nest.

The win also propelled Sac State into a first-place tie with University of Montana in the Big Sky regular season standings. The Hornets are now a half game ahead of the Eastern Washington University Eagles, who have four games remaining on their schedule.

Senior guard Mikh McKinney spoke on the preparations necessary to close out the season in first place.

“We’re not going to do anything special that we haven’t done,” McKinney said. “We’re going to prepare, game plan, scouting report, lots of film, and just go into the game and prepare like we always do.”

Sac State owns the tiebreaker against Montana after defeating them 70-69 on Jan. 31, the teams’ only matchup this season. Both squads have three games left to play.

Montana will face Eastern Washington, who is sitting in third place, on the road on Feb. 28. Sac State will close out against Portland State (8-7 in Big Sky), Southern Utah University (5-9 in Big Sky) and Northern Arizona University (10-4 in Big Sky).

The triumph over North Dakota was an emotional scene in The Nest before the game even started, as Saturday was senior night for the Hornets. The game marked the last-ever contest in the gym for seniors McKinney, Dylan Garrity, Alex Tiffin and Zach Mills, as Sac State will play its final three regular-season games on the road.

The Hornets have been led this season by veteran efforts put in by senior guards McKinney and Garrity, who have posted averages of 19.7 and 13.3 points per game in conference games, respectively. McKinney’s scoring average is second in the Big Sky behind Tyler Harvey of Eastern Washington, who is posting 22.8 points per game.

Starting forward Nick Hornsby has averaged a team-leading 5.2 rebounds per game. The sophomore had a double-double in Saturday’s victory, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Hornsby, who said he loves the atmosphere provided by The Nest, gave his thoughts on playing the last game of the year at the gym.

“It sucks, but it was a good way to go out in the last game,” Hornsby said.

Because of The Nest’s size and seating capacity, it cannot be used as a tournament venue. A first-place conference finish would give the Hornets the right to host the eight-team Big Sky Conference tournament from The WELL following an agreement with Big Sky officials announced on Friday.

“That would be great, honestly,” Hornsby said of potentially hosting the tournament from The WELL. “That would be so much fun, and it’d be an awesome experience to have it here, so that’s just the goal we’re working towards right now.”

Hornsby, Garrity and McKinney each said they have experience playing and shooting on the basketball floor at The WELL in one form or another.

Garrity said the ability to stay on campus for the tournament would be a huge advantage.

“We went 9-0 here at home, we’re super confident in that,” Garrity said. “We don’t think anybody can beat us here.”

If the Hornets do not win the league, then Saturday’s matchup will have marked the final home game in the seniors’ college careers.

“To never ever play another game in The Nest, you know, it’s a little emotional for me,” McKinney said.“Nobody wanted me. Nobody wanted me, and they took me here.”

The string of nine straight league wins at home this year did not come without excite- ment or drama.

A come-from-behind 70-69 victory over University of Montana on Jan. 31 came in the form of a Garrity 3-pointer in the game’s waning seconds. In last Thursday’s contest, Sac State overcame an early 17-7 deficit against University of Northern Colorado to defeat the Bears 66-59 in a back-and-forth affair.

Sac State’s efforts at The Nest this season did not go unnoticed or unappreciated by fans. The Hornets’ final five home games of the season drew crowds of at least 1,215, with all five utilizing overflow bleachers and standing-room-only spaces to accommodate spectators.

If the Hornets can secure first place by the regular season’s end on March 7, Sac State will return to campus to host the Big Sky Conference Championship on March 12-14 from The WELL. Otherwise, the team will need to be road warriors over the next three weeks.

“I just think our experience is going to have to come through,” Garrity said. “It’s going to be really tough, everybody knows that. But me, Mikh and Cody [Demps], we’ve got to lead these guys.”

So far this season on the road, the Hornets are 5-7 overall and 3-3 in conference match ups.

The winner of the eight-team Big Sky tournament will receive a bid to compete in this season’s NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. Sac State—a school that joined Division I in men’s basketball in 1991—has never had a taste of March Madness.

The Hornets will begin their three-game road trip on Feb. 28 with a 7:05 p.m. tipoff at Portland State.