MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana's Brandon Gfeller missed a 3-point look at the buzzer, and, for the first time in 22 tries, Sacramento State won a regular season game in Missoula after beating the Grizzlies, 67-65, on Thursday evening at Dahlberg Arena.

The Hornets had been 1-21 all-time in Missoula with the lone win coming in the quarterfinal round of the 2003 Big Sky Tournament. Since that time, Sacramento State had dropped 12 straight games in Missoula. Coupled with a 92-83 home win inside the Nest on Jan. 21, the Hornets swept a two-game season series against Montana for the first time ever, and improved to 8-38 all-time against the Grizzlies. However, Sacramento State has now won four of the last six meetings between the two teams.

More importantly, the Hornets (10-14, 7-6) continue to play well, having won three straight and seven of the last 10 games after beginning the league season with an 0-3 Big Sky record. The seven conference wins have been impressive, including a home win over conference power Weber State, a season sweep of Montana, an overtime home win over Portland State and three road wins. Sacramento State has now won three of its last five road games, and is one victory shy of the school record for most Big Sky road wins in a season (4), set during the 2014-15 season.

In a game that included seven ties, 12 lead changes and a ridiculous amount of nail-biting moments, it was the Hornets that outscored Montana in the second half by a 40-31 margin. Leading the charge was junior forward Justin Strings who had a career-high 29 points, including 21 in the second half. In fact, Strings scored 15 of the Hornets' final 18 points spanning the last 6:28, and he finished 13-of-20 from the field and 3-of-5 from the free throw line while pulling seven rebounds. A few of those buckets late were tough takes to the basket that resulted in floaters with plenty of hands in his face.

That included a basket that gave the Hornets their first lead of the second half (51-50 with 6:28 left), buckets to break ties at the 4:44, 3:04 and 2:01 marks, and a layup to give Sacramento State a 66-65 lead with 22 seconds remaining. The 29 points surpassed his previous career high of 26, set on two occasions.

"Justin made a lot of tough shots tonight," Sacramento State head coach Brian Katz said. "He also made a lot of big baskets, and it seemed like every time we needed a score, we got one from him. He has really come around during league play and has been a part of a front court with Eric (Stuteville) and Nick (Hornsby) that has played very well this year."

No team led by more than four points the final 12:45 of the contest. The back and forth affair saw two Hornet starters foul out (Eric Stuteville at 0:34, Nick Hornsby at 0:07) late in the game, and featured four ties over the final 3:19. After a pair of free throws from Montana's Bobby Moorehead tied things at 61-61 with 2:46 left, Strings answered with a free throw only to see Ahmaad Rorie's layup give Montana a 63-62 lead at the 1:36 mark.

Sacramento State answered with a pair of huge free throws from Stuteville to reclaim the lead with 1:10 left. Jack Lopez and Jared Samuelson would each split a pair of free throw attempts on Montana's next two possessions to give the Grizzlies a 65-64 lead at the 34 second mark. Sacramento State then called a timeout and Katz drew up a beautiful play that saw Hornsby whip a pass down low to a cutting Strings for a layup and a 66-65 lead with 22 seconds remaining.

Then the game got really crazy. Montana's Rorie missed a 10-foot runner with nine seconds left but was able to get fouled by Hornsby while trying to grab the offensive rebound. Already in the double bonus, Rorie, an 85 percent free throw shooter, missed both attempts and Marcus Graves grabbed the rebound and was immediacy fouled. Graves knocked down the first free throw, and saw his second bounce on the rim three times before falling out. Montana grabbed the rebound and raced up the floor past half court to call timeout with 1.5 seconds left. Montana would inbound to Gfeller who had a decent look from the top of the circle, but his 3-point attempt hit back rim as the buzzer sounded.

Sacramento State won tonight's game despite failing to hit a 3-pointer (0-for-7) and converting just 15-of-28 free throw attempts (.536). The Hornets did shoot 50 percent from the field (26-52), including 54 percent (14-26) in the second half. In addition, the Hornets owned a 44-34 advantage in the paint and saw the Grizzlies shoot 45 percent (25-56) from the field, 35 percent (6-17) from the 3-point line and 53 percent (9-17) from the free throw line. The two teams were brutal from the free throw line, combining to shoot 24-of-45 from the charity stripe.

"We missed all our 3-point attempts and missed 13 free throws, and still won on the road against a very good team," Katz said. "I think it speaks volumes to the toughness and tenacity of this team, and their ability to keep battling.

"We are definitely coming together at the right time. We just try to stay focused on the next game and get better every time out, and our guys are certainly doing that right now."

Montana (13-14, 8-6) had its three-game winning streak snapped, and the Hornets are now just a half game back of fifth place Montana and Montana State (8-6). In addition, Sacramento State moved to within a game of fourth-place Idaho (8-5) with five games left in the regular season. The top five teams at the end of the regular season receive a first-round bye in the Big Sky Tournament in Reno on March 7-11.

Sacramento State's five starters combined to score all 67 of the team's points. That included Graves recording 15 points (12 in the second half), six rebounds and three assists. Hornsby had a stat sheet stuffing evening with nine points, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks, three steals and 37 minutes. Stuteville added nine points and a block, and Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa had five points, three rebounds and a steal.

Strings (21) and Graves (12) combined for 33 of the Hornets' 40 second-half points.

For Montana, Michael Oguine had 12 points and seven rebounds, Rorie and Walter Wright both had 10 points, and Gfeller added nine points. Gfeller had been 3-of-4 from the 3-point line prior to missing the 3-ball that would have won the game at the buzzer. Montana's bench outscored Sacramento State's reserved by a 23-0 margin.

The Hornets return to action in two days when the team plays Montana State in Bozeman on Saturday at 1 p.m. PST. Sacramento State lost to the Bobcats earlier this season at the Nest by a 74-65 score.