Sacramento, CA – A massive second-half run by Sacramento State turned a big Portland State lead into a Big Sky Conference-opening loss at The Hornets Nest. Sacramento State trailed by 15 in the second half, but a 42-11 rally down the stretch led the Hornets to a 74-63 victory.
 
The Vikings played well for the first 25 minutes of the game. A Mikal Starks three-pointer at the 14:34 mark of the second half gave them a comfortable 47-32 advantage.
 
However, the Vikings would only make one field goal over the next 9:40 of play and Sacramento State would completely flip the script.
 
Hornets' leading scorer Zach Chappell got things going, scoring 11 of the first 15 points in the run. Then Akol Mawein scored the next eight in a row. The Hornets captured the lead on a Mawein layin with 7:40 remaining in the game. But they weren't done scoring, getting the next seven points, and eventually 19 of the next 23 points. 
 
The Vikings suffered a five-minute scoreless stretch and were never able to regroup, falling behind 72-56 down the stretch. The run stretched to 42-11 before the Vikings scored the last five points of the game.
 
The turnaround was inexplicable for the Vikings. PSU had a 33-20 lead late in the first half, then the 15-point lead a little more than five minutes into the second half. PSU allowed only 26 points in the first half, but gave up 48 points in the second half.
 
Sacramento State shot .346 from the field in the first half, but came back to shoot .533 in the second half, and out-rebound the Vikings 23-10 after intermission. The Hornets had 20 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds in the game.
 
Chappell led the Hornets with a game-high 18 points. Mawein had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Austin Patterson scored 15 points on 5-9 three-pointers.
 
Isaiah Johnson paced the Vikings with a career-high 11 points and four rebounds. Jorell Saterfield and Mikal Starks each had 10 points. Cameron Parker scored eight points and matched his season-high of eight assists.  
 
Sacramento State is 8-6 on the season and now 1-0 in the Big Sky. The Hornets are 5-0 at home and have won five of six overall. Portland State dropped to 6-8, 0-1 in the Big Sky.

PSU was playing the fourth of their last five games on the road and will play two more road games before returning to the Viking Pavilion.
 

GAME NOTES

• Among PSU's 12 Division I opponents this year, the Vikings have yet to play one with a losing record.
• Cameron Parker passed 700 career assists with eight assists in the game. He is now the only active player at the NCAA Division I level with 1,000 career points and 700 career assists. Parker has 1,077 points and 704 assists in 122 career games at Sacred Heart, Montana and Portland State. He is likely to be joined on Sunday by Jalen Pickett of Penn State. Pickett has 1,761 points and 697 assists in 120 career games going into a contest with Iowa. 
• Jacob Eyman is 14-20 from the field (.700) over the last four games, averaging 7.5 points.
• Portland State is on the road again next week, playing at Eastern Washington on Thursday and Idaho on Saturday.