SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State closed the final 7:14 on a 24-6 run, and eventually knocked off Antelope Valley, 82-60, in a non-conference men's basketball game Thursday evening at the Nest. The game marked the home opener for the Hornets.

With the victory, Sacramento State (1-2) won its first game of the 2016-17 season, and in the process, won its sixth straight home opener. The Hornets will not play again at home until hosting UC Merced on Dec. 3. However, Sacramento State will play a neutral site game against UC Davis on Monday at the Golden 1 Center at 5:35 p.m. Tickets still remain for that game and can be obtained by clicking here.

Antelope Valley, an NAIA program from Lancaster, Calif., in the northern Los Angeles County, dropped to 1-4 with the loss. The two teams were playing each for the first time ever. Antelope Valley is one of two non-Div. I programs that Sacramento State will face this season (UC Merced is the other).

The Hornets had a sluggish first half in which they led just 36-33 at intermission after committing 10 first half turnovers and allowing Antelope Valley to shoot .464 (13-28) from the field and .500 (6-12) from the 3-point line. The Pioneers scored 10 points off those Hornet turnovers and kept the game close.

Antelope Valley took its largest lead of the game at two points (38-36) in the early stages of the second half, but the Hornets quickly responded with an 8-0 run to take a 44-38 lead with 16:44 left. Antelope Valley cut the Hornet lead to four points (58-54) after Jacob Bowman hit a jumper with 9:20 remaining, but Sacramento State held the Pioneers to just six points the remainder of the contest.

Five different Hornets scored during the 24-6 run, including Matt Battaglia (6), Justin Strings (5), Eric Stuteville (5), Grant Dressler (4) and Marcus Graves (4). The 22-point margin of victory was also Sacramento State's largest lead of the evening.

"Give Antelope Valley some credit, I thought they had a very good game plan and came ready to play," Sacramento State ninth-year head coach Brian Katz said. "We were flat in the first half and certainly didn't have our A game, but sometimes you have to win ugly and we did that tonight. We didn't have very good intensity to start the game, and the 15 turnovers is inexcusable. We definitely have some things to work on."

Sacramento State finished the game shooting .508 (31-of-61) from the field, .471 (8-for-17) from the 3-point line and .667 (12-of-18) from the free throw line. The Hornets outrebounded the Pioneers, 47-27, and had healthy advantages in points in the paint (42-16), second chance points (15-3) and fast break points (12-2). In addition, the Hornets received 34 of their 82 points off the bench. Sacramento State, which averaged just 11.8 turnovers per game last season, had a whopping 15 miscues tonight which led to 14 Antelope Valley points.

The Pioneers shot just .323 from the field in the second half and finished the game .390 (23-of-59) from the field and .364 (.8-22) from the 3-point line. Antelope Valley was limited to just five offensive rebounds the entire evening.

Five Hornets scored in double figures, including Graves who had a game-high 19 points to go along with four rebounds and five assists. The junior guard shot 7-of-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. Battaglia, a true freshman from El Dorado Hills, scored all 12 of his points in the second half on 4-for-5 shooting from the 3-point line. Dressler, a sophomore, posted career bests in points (13), rebounds (3), assists (3) and steals (2) while connecting on a pair of 3-pointers.

Strings had his second double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high tying 14 rebounds, and Stuteville had 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 26 minutes. Nick Hornsby, who had double-doubles in each of the first two games, finished with four points, six rebounds and a pair of steals. Trevis Jackson added four points and two steals in 16 minutes.

Four Antelope Valley players finished in double figures, comprised of Franky Teran (15), Shane Shelton (13), Jonathan Parker (11) and Devonne Nolan (10).

Each of the next three games for Sacramento State will come on neutral floors, including UC Davis on Monday at the Golden 1 Center, and both San Francisco (Nov. 26) and Denver (Nov. 27) will be played in Cheney, Wash., on Eastern Washington's home floor.