SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State had a chance to tie with five seconds left, but Leo Ricketts' 3-pointer was off the mark, and Northern Arizona hit a free throw with one second remaining to put things away in a 65-61 victory over the Hornets.

Trailing by nine points with under seven minutes to play, Sacramento State went on an 8-2 run to get back within, 60-57, at the 4:38 mark. The Hornets forced NAU misses on each of the Lumberjacks' next two possessions, but the Hornets had turnovers each time after those misses. After Trent McLaughlin put the Lumberjacks up five (62-57) with 2:58 remaining, the Hornets would get things to a one possession game on three more occasions during the final two minutes, but could not quite get over the hump.

After Dillan Baker split a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left to put NAU up, 64-61, Sacramento State had a chance to tie. The Hornets dribbled up the floor, and Ricketts had a clean look from about 23 feet with five seconds to play, but his shot was off the mark. NAU secured the rebound and nailed a free throw to put the game away.

For the second straight game, the Hornets were playing without three starters (Julian Vaughns, Bailey Nunn, Alex Kovatchev) and a key reserve in Bowyn Beatty. In fact, the Hornets used just seven players in today's game, and Ricketts, a true freshman, played all 40 minutes. He was one of three Hornets to play over 39 minutes, including EJ Neal (39:35) and Lachlan Brewer (39:39). Of the Hornets' seven players used in this afternoon's game, three were freshmen and two were sophomores.

Sacramento State went into halftime trailing by 10 points (36-26), but opened the second half on a 14-0 run. From there, it was a single digit game the rest of the way.

Sacramento State (6-20, 2-11), despite its injury issue, has dropped three of its last four games by four points or less. The team has just five games remaining in the regular season (two at home, three on the road). Northern Arizona, which possesses the nation's top rebounder (Carson Towt) and one of the nation's top scorers (Trent McLaughlin), improved to 15-12 overall and 6-8 in league. McLaughlin had a game-high 20 points and played all 40 minutes.

Sacramento State shot 46% (23-50) from the field, 36% (9-25) from the 3-point line and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. NAU made the same amount of field goals (23-54) and 3-pointers (9-26), but the Lumberjacks converted on four more free throws (10-18).

For the Hornets, Jacob Holt posted his fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Five of those boards came on the offensive glass, and he was 7-for-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from distance while registering a +5 plus/minus. Brewer, a true freshman, recorded his first collegiate double-double with 11 points and season-best 10 rebounds.

Neal had a season-high tying 16 points, including four 3-pointers, to go with six rebounds, six assists and two steals. Eleven of those points came in the first half when his hot shooting kept the Hornets close. Ricketts had five points, five assists, three rebounds and team-high three steals. Emil Skytta added eight points. Chudi Dioramma (15:19) and Michael Wilson (4:21) came off the bench for Sacramento State

Sacramento State had 20 turnovers (10 in both halves), and NAU scored 17 points off those miscues.

The Hornets are back in action next week on the road - Thursday at Weber State (6 p.m. PT), and Saturday at Idaho State (5 p.m. PT).