CHENEY, Wash. — Trailing by 13 points at halftime, the Hornets made a furious comeback in the second half, and took a six-point lead with 7:30 to play, but eventually fell to Eastern Washington, 77-76, on Thursday evening at Reese Court.

Sacramento State trailed, 39-26, at halftime, but put together a torrid second half in which the team shot 67% (20-30) from the field and 6-for-11 (55%) from the 3-point line. In fact, the Hornets went on a 38-19 run over the first 13 minutes of the second half to take a team-high six-point lead (64-58) with seven minutes left.

However, Eastern Washington made seven of its final nine field goal attempts of the game, and Sacramento State did not score for more than three minutes late in the second half. In fact, after an Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa jumper cut an EWU lead to 72-71 with 3:18 left, the Hornets did not score again until there were four seconds left to play.

Sacramento State scored five points over the game's final four seconds to make things interesting, including a Mauriohooho-Le'afa 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it was not enough. The Hornets scored 50 second-half points, the second largest output in a half by Sacramento State this season, and the 76 overall points were also second most, trailing the team's 77-72 win at Pepperdine during non-conference play.

The loss dropped Sacramento State to 13-12 overall and 6-10 in the Big Sky Conference. Eastern Washington, which remains in a tie for second place in the conference standings with Northern Colorado, improved to 18-8 overall, 10-2 at home and 11-4 in the Big Sky. The Eagles swept the season series against the Hornets, which included a 59-54 win at the Nest on Feb. 1

The road has been unkind to the Hornets since Big Sky play started. After going 2-2 on the road in non-conference play, Sacramento State is 1-7 away from home against conference competition.

Only four games remain in the regular season for Sacramento State (two at home, two on the road), and the Hornets return to action on Saturday at Idaho for a 2:05 p.m. matchup.

Sacramento State limited the nation's fifth best offense to just 54 points at the Nest, but the Eagles were much more fluid in tonight's game, scoring 77 points, the most allowed by the Hornets this season. Both teams shot 51% from the field - the Hornets were 29-for-57 from the field, the Eagles 30-of-59. Sacramento State shot 38% (8-21) from the 3-point line and 77% (10-13) from the free throw line while Eastern Washington shot 44% (11-25) from distance and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. The 11 3-balls were tied for the most given up by the Hornets this season.

Sacramento State made 13 Eastern Washington turnovers count, outscoring the Eagles, 22-13, in points off miscues. However, the Eagles had a 15-8 edge in fast break points.

Mauriohooho-Le'afa had a big game, tying a career high with 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 5-for-8 from the 3-point line. He has now score in double figures in a career-high five straight games, and over that span, is averaging 18.0 ppg on 55% (32-58) shooting and 52% (17-33) from the 3-point line.

Three other Hornets scored in double figures, including Joshua Patton's 18 points (8-13 FG) and five rebounds. He scored 13 of those points on 6-for-7 shooting in the second half. Osi Nwachukwu had 11 points and four rebounds, and Ethan Esposito had 12 points and a team-best +11 in plus/minus in 22 minutes of play. Bryce Fowler had five points and a career-high nine assists with just one turnover in 21 minutes.

The Hornets had a season-high tying 21 assists on its 29 made buckets while Eastern Washington had 22 assists on its 30 made buckets. The Eagles held a 29-27 advantage in the rebounding department.

EWU was led by Mason Peatling's 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. The senior forward finished 11-for-16 from the field and 4-of-6 from the 3-point line. Peatling (14) and Kim Aiken Jr. (14) combined for 28 of Eastern Washington's 38 points in the second half.

The Hornets return to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Moscow, Idaho, to take on Idaho at 2:05 p.m. Sacramento State's final two home games of the regular season take place next week against Montana State on Thursday and Montana on Saturday. Both games will start at 7:05 p.m.