SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State held a 59-58 lead with under a minute to play, but Northern Arizona scored on two of its final three possessions to outlast the Hornets, 62-61, on Thursday evening at the Nest.

Behind the strength of an 18-2 second half run, Sacramento State erased a seven-point halftime deficit and took its largest lead of the game at 41-33 with 12:48 to play. However, NAU immediately responded with a 12-4 spurt to tie things at 45-45 with 9:29 left. No team led by more than four points the rest of the way as both teams battled back and forth.

A Bryce Fowler turnaround jumper with 1:44 remaining gave the Hornets a 59-58 lead, but Sacramento State could not pull a rebound on NAU's next possession. The Lumberjacks missed three straight jumpers, but were able to pull the offensive rebound on each occasion. The fourth try of the possession resulted in a pair of free throws by Jalen Cone to give NAU a 60-59 lead with 20 seconds left.

A rough Hornet stretch was then punctuated by a turnover from the baseline inbounds pass, and Cone would make two more free throws at the 13-second mark go up 62-59. Sacramento State got a pair of free throws from Fowler with four seconds left to chop the deficit to a point, and got a front end 1-and-1 free throw miss on NAU's ensuing possession. However, Sacramento State didn't have enough time to get a good look as Zach Chappell raced up the court and his off-balance 30-footer was off the mark as time expired.

NAU went 7-for-12 from the 3-point line in the second half and finished with 11 makes in 27 attempts (41%). That offset a poor shooting night for the Lumberjacks that saw the team shoot 39% overall from the field. Sacramento State shot 43% from the floor, 37% (7-19) from the 3-point line and 67% from the free throw line. The Hornets missed all three of their front end of 1-and-1 free throw situations, which had a big impact on the final score.

For the fifth time in the last seven games, a Hornet contest has been decided by five points or less. Sacramento State is 1-4 in those outcomes, and dropped to 6-12 overall and 2-9 in the Big Sky Conference. Two of those close losses have come to NAU, as the Hornets fell to the Lumberjacks in Flagstaff on Jan. 24 by a 70-65 margin.

Northern Arizona improved to 8-13 overall and 4-6 in league play.

The Hornets held big advantages over NAU in points off turnovers (18-7), points in the paint (28-12) and bench points (19-6). However, Sacramento State was beaten badly on the glass (37-30), and that was no more evident than a second half which saw NAU pull 18 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. It didn't help the Hornets were playing without their second best rebounder and third leading scorer Cameron Wilbon (ankle).

Four Hornets scored between 12-14 points, led by William FitzPatrick's 14 as the sharp shooter was 4-for-7 from distance. Chappell added 13 points, four rebounds and five assists, and Fowler had 12 points, five rebounds, six assists and a career-high tying five steals. Jonathan Komagum had 12 points and eight rebounds (five on the offensive glass), and has now scored in double figures in three straight games. Both Fowler and Komagum scored 10 points in the second half.

Chappell (+10) and FitzPatrick (+8) had healthy plus/minus numbers despite the loss. Deshaun Highler played 24 active minutes, and finished with seven points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal.

After scoring 36 points against the Hornets in Flagstaff, Cone - the Big Sky's second leading scorer - was limited to 10 points this evening.

Sacramento State will fly tomorrow to Oregon for a game at Portland State on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. After that game, the Hornets are right back at home next week for matchups against Northern Colorado on Feb. 10, and Southern Utah on Feb. 12.