SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State's Eric Stuteville (career-high 22 points, 11 rebounds), Justin Strings (22 points, six rebounds) and Marcus Graves (21 points, seven assists) combined for 65 points to lead the Hornets to a thrilling double overtime win over Abilene Christian, 88-86, on Saturday evening at the Nest.

In a game that featured 11 ties, 10 lead changes, neither team leading by more than nine points, and some huge 3-point makes from Strings, Sacramento State was able to pull out the win and remain perfect at home. Tonight marked the Hornets' first double overtime game since an 85-81 win at Northern Arizona on Jan. 11, 2003, and just the 11th double overtime game in program history (1948-pres.).

Strings, who scored all 22 of his points after halftime, buried gigantic 3-pointers towards the end of regulation and each of the overtime sessions. The first clutch 3-ball came with 25 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 70-70 and eventually force overtime. The next huge triple occurred with 1:26 left in the first overtime and tied the score at 73-73. He topped that with a 3-pointer at the 47 second mark of the second overtime to give the Hornets an 84-82 lead. Sacramento State wouldn't trail the rest of the way as the Hornets made all four of their free throw attempts during the final 23 seconds to pull out the win.

Sacramento State needed a 6-2 run during the final 1:37 of regulation to get to overtime, Abilene Christian forced a second overtime after Jaren Lewis buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Hornets used an 11-6 run over the final 2:32 of the second overtime to win a game in which neither team led by more than six points the final 25:15 of game clock.

With the victory, Sacramento State, which was playing its final non-conference home game, improved to 3-7. The Hornets were playing just their third home game of the year and are now 3-0 inside the Nest, and 47-14 at home going back to the beginning of the 2012-13 season. In addition, the Hornets have now won six straight games inside the Nest dating back to last year.

The Hornets and Wildcats were playing each other for just the second time ever, as Abilene Christian won the first matchup, 72-61, in Abilene, Texas, on Dec. 4, 2014. The Wildcats are a Div. I member and reside in the Southland Conference. Abilene Christian had its three-game winning streak snapped with tonight's loss and dropped to 6-4 this season.

The Hornets, who led, 33-31, at halftime after closing the half on a 12-4 run, also played their first close game of the season. Prior to tonight, all nine Sacramento State games had been decided by nine points or more.

Sacramento State shot well from the perimeter (.500, 29-for-58) and the free throw line (.700, 21-of-30) while posting season highs in points (88), 3-pointers made (9), free throws made (21) and attempted (30) while also falling just one assist (21) shy of a season best. The Hornets were whistled for just 11 fouls over 50 minutes and took advantage of a large disparity from the free throw line (SAC 21-of-30; Abilene Christian 4-for-5). In fact, the Wildcats made eight more field goals than the Hornets, but Sacramento State converted on 17 more free throws.

After the Hornets led, 33-31, at halftime, Abilene Christian held a 39-37 advantage in the second half, both teams scored six points in the first overtime, and the Hornets had a 12-10 edge in the second extra session.

"This was our first tight game of the season, and we know that during conference play, they will all be close so this was a good test," Sacramento State ninth-year head coach Brian Katz said. "You really want your team to be ready for these fist fight type of games because that's exactly what's going to happen in league.

"We competed really well tonight, got to the free throw line 30 times, made some improvement defensively, and came up with some big shots. Seven of our first nine games of the season were away from home, so it was nice to be back inside the Nest and get the win."

Abilene Christian, which was held to just two offensive rebounds all evening, shot .569 (37-65) from the field, .471 (8-17) from the 3-point line and .800 (4-5) from the free throw line. The Wildcats were whistled for 25 fouls, and saw both Hayden Howell and Jalone Friday foul out of the game during the final two and a half minutes of regulation. After the Wildcats buried 5-of-8 3-point attempts in the first half, they were held to just three more 3-point makes the rest of the evening.

Four different Hornets played over 40 minutes and each were career highs in minutes played, comprised of Stuteville (45), Graves (43), Strings (43) and Nick Hornsby (41).

Strings' 22 points came on 7-of-17 shooting from the field, including 5-for-10 from the 3-point line and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. He also added six rebounds and it was his two free throws with nine seconds left in the second overtime that gave the Hornets a four-point lead and put the game away. Stuteville's 22 points surpassed his previous career high of 19, set last year at Stanford. He also had 11 rebounds, two blocks and shot 6-for-8 from the field and 10-of-16 from the free throw line. Over the last four games, the fourth-year senior big man is averaging 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots on .743 (26-35) shooting from the field.

Graves' 21 points came on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. He also added seven assists, five rebounds and buried two clutch free throws with 23 seconds left in the second overtime to give the Hornets a four-point cushion. Jiday Ugbaja added eight points, and fourth-year senior Trevis Jackson had six points, four assists, two rebounds and a career-high four steals in 35 minutes. Hornsby added five points, eight rebounds and two steals, and Joshua Patton had four points.

For Abilene Christian, five players scored in double figures, comprised of Jaylen Franklin (20 points, four assists, five rebounds), Lewis (17 points, six assists, three steals), Friday (12 points), Drake Green (12 points, three steals, 4-for-5 from 3-point land) and Jovan Crnic (12 points, six assists). The Wildcats had eight steals and forced Sacramento State into a season-worst 18 turnovers.

The Hornets have just one non-conference game remaining on the schedule, and that will come Wednesday at Washington State at 6 p.m. That game will be aired live on the Pac-12 Network. The Hornets open Big Sky play with a pair of home games against Northern Colorado on Dec. 29, and North Dakota on Dec. 31.