GREELEY, Colo. -- Sacramento State held a 62-61 lead with a minute to play, but Northern Colorado closed the final 41 seconds on a 7-2 run to beat the Hornets, 68-64, on Saturday evening at Bank of Colorado Arena.

After trailing by seven points at halftime (43-36), the Hornets, playing without two starters, had a strong second half that saw the team take two late leads at 61-59 with 3:14 to play, and later the 62-61 advantage.

A 9-1 run turned a six-point deficit to a 61-59 lead, capped by a 3-pointer from Michael Wilson at the 3:14 mark. However, Sacramento State would score just three points the rest of the way, both from Julian Vaughns with a free throw at the 2:22 mark and a layup with 19 seconds to play. That layup had the Hornets trailing just, 65-64. Sacramento State immediately fouled, and Northern Colorado's Jaron Rillie split a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left.

Trailing by two points (66-64), the Hornets raced down the floor and Vaughns' 3-point attempt (to give the Hornets the lead) missed with nine seconds left. Rillie responded with two free throws at the seven-second mark to make things a two possession game, and end the Hornets' chances.

Sacramento State, playing without the starting back court of Emil Skytta and Alex Kovatchev for the third straight game, dropped to 5-13 overall and 1-4 in the Big Sky Conference. Kovatchev has missed 14 straight games with injury, and the Hornets were also without seven-foot forward Bowyn Beatty who just started and played 31 minutes vs. Eastern Washington last week prior to injury.

Northern Colorado won its eighth straight game, and remains the only unbeaten team in the Big Sky at 14-5 and 6-0. The Bears, who are receiving votes in the College Insider mid-major top 25 poll, have won eight straight for the first time since the 2010-11 season.

Sacramento State finished the game shooting 45% (23-51) from the field while Northern Colorado was 42% (19-45). The Bears connected on two more 3-balls than the Hornets (NC 8-23, SAC 6-19), but the biggest difference came at the free throw line. The Hornets were 12-of-15 from the charity stripe while the Bears were 22-for-27. Sacramento State was whistled for 14 fouls in the second half, and 14 of the Bears' 25 second half points came from the line.

Jacob Holt registered his seventh 20-point game of the season with 25 points, nine rebounds and career-high four blocks. He narrowly missed his fifth double-double in the last six games while finishing 10-for-13 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line in 35 minutes.

Wilson set or matched his career high in points (11), rebounds (7), steals (3) and minutes (38). EJ Neal had eight points (2-4 3FG) before fouling out with 19 seconds remaining. Lachlan Brewer also had eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second half. Vaughns finished with five points, and Bailey Nunn posted four points, four rebounds and four assists. Three Hornet starters finished with four or more fouls.

Sacramento State is back at home next week for matchups Thursday vs. Idaho State at 7 p.m., followed by a Saturday afternoon game vs. Weber State at 1 p.m.