CHENEY, Wash. -- Denver broke open a 61-61 tie by scoring the game's final 11 points spanning 2:51 on the way to a 72-61 victory over Sacramento State in the second and final round of the EWU Men's Basketball Classic.

The Hornets (1-5) opened the tournament yesterday with a 77-59 loss to San Francisco. Both games were played in Cheney, Wash., on Eastern Washington's home floor. Sacramento State's 1-5 record is the program's worst mark after six games since the 2008-09 squad began the season with the same record.

Today's game was much closer than the final score indicated. There were seven lead changes and 10 ties in the second half as both teams battled back and forth. A Justin Strings free throw tied the game at 61-61 with 3:05 left to play. However, the Hornets would not score again as the team committed two offensive fouls, tacked on another turnover and missed both field goal attempts during its final five possessions.

Meanwhile, Denver went 3-for-4 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line over the game's final 2:15 to pull out the victory. Four different Pioneer players scored during the 11-0 spurt, including Jake Pemberton's five points. No basket was bigger than Pemberton's 3-point dagger with 1:29 to play that gave Denver a 68-61 lead.

The victory allowed Denver to improve to 2-3. The Pioneers opened the tournament last night by falling to host Eastern Washington, 85-80, in overtime. The Hornets lost for the first time to Denver as Sacramento State had won the previous two meetings between the two teams.

Despite the late Denver run in the second half, the game really took a turn came late in the first half. Sacramento State held a game-high 16 point lead after a Nick Hornsby jumper gave the team a 29-13 advantage with 3:48 to play. However, the Pioneers ripped off a 12-2 run over the final 3:18 to go into halftime trailing just, 31-25. Really, Sacramento State's finish to both halves cost the Hornets the game as Denver held a combined 23-2 advantage during the final three minutes and change of the first and second halves.

Denver didn't even take its first lead of the game until a jumper from C.J. Bobbitt put the Pioneers up, 37-35, with 17:16 remaining. Neither team led by more than four points for 17 minutes and 31 seconds of game clock in the second half. That run of nail biting action ended when Pemberton's wide open dagger 3-pointer put Denver on top, 68-61, with 1:29 left.

Sacramento State finished the game shooting .449 (22-of-49) from the field, but just 2-for-11 (.182) from the 3-point line. In fact, the Hornets did not convert a 3-pointer during the game's final 32:30 after Strings and Jeff Wu connected on a pair of early treys. Sacramento State went 15-for-18 (823) from the free throw line, but two of those misses came during the game's final 3:19. The Hornets were crushed on the glass as Denver had 17 offensive rebounds, resulting in a massive 19-6 disparity in second chance points. In fact, nearly half of Denver's 40 rebounds came on the offensive glass.

The Pioneers, who missed 18 of their first 24 field goal attempts, finished the game shooting .394 (26-of-66) from the field, .350 (7-for-20) from the 3-point line and .650 (13-of-20) from the free throw line. That included a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe in the second half. Both teams combined for just 13 turnovers (SAC 7, DEN 6) and four fast break points. Sacramento State was credited with just five assists.

Three Hornets finished with double figures in points, comprised of Marcus Graves (16 points, four rebounds, two assists), Strings (13 points, eight rebounds) and Hornsby (10 points). Nine of Graves' points came in the second half, and the junior guard finished the game 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. Strings has scored at least 12 points in every game this season and Hornsby now has double figures in points against all five Div. I opponents the Hornets have faced.

Redshirt freshman Joshua Patton had an action-packed 19 minutes in which he tallied eight points, two rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and four fouls. Wu had five points and a steal, center Eric Stuteville had five rebounds, and Grant Dressler had four points and three rebounds.

For Denver, Daniel Amigo had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Pemberton added 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from distance. Fourteen of those points for Pemberton came during a second half in which Denver outscored Sacramento State, 47-30.

Today wrapped up a stretch that saw the Hornets play three straight games on neutral floors, including last Monday night's game against UC Davis at the downtown Golden 1 Center. Sacramento State wraps up its stretch of four consecutive games away from home on Thursday night when the team travels down Interstate 5 for a matchup in Stockton against Pacific at 7:05 p.m. Sacramento State will return home to face UC Merced on Dec. 3 at 5:05 p.m. That game is part of a doubleheader that will see the Hornet women's basketball team play USC at 7:35 p.m.