MOSCOW, Idaho -- Sacramento State held a one-point lead with under a minute to play, but Idaho scored the game's final three points on the way to a 78-76 win over Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon.

In a game that Sacramento State led for 30 minutes of clock, and saw Idaho never lead by more than five points, it was the Vandals that outlasted the Hornets. The biggest reason for the Idaho win was the charity stripe where the Vandals attempted a whopping 25 more free throws. The Vandals went 32-for-41, while the Hornets were just 9-of-16.

Fittingly, Idaho's final three points all came from the free throw line as the Vandals were 20-of-24 from the line in the second half.

Sacramento State held a four-point lead with under two minutes to play, but Idaho immediately answered with a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer from Kristian Gonzalez to reclaim the lead (75-74) with 1:16 left. The Hornets answered with a Chudi Dioramma layup to take a 76-75 lead at the 56 second mark. The Hornets got a stop on Idaho's next possession, but Emil Skytta missed a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left, and Sacramento State was whistled for a foul on the rebound, sending Idaho to the line for a pair of free throws.

Trailing, 77-76, the Hornets' Julian Vaughns had a nice look at a 15-foot baseline jumper, but his shot was off the mark with five seconds to play. Idaho grabbed the rebound, and after being fouled, split the free throws to go up 78-76 with 3.2 seconds remaining. The Hornets inbounded from the baseline and had a halfcourt look at the buzzer, but Leo Ricketts shot fell short.

The Hornets held a 47-39 halftime advantage, and led by as many as 11 points in the first half. Sacramento State shot 56% (30-54) from the field, 33% (7-21) from the 3-point line and just 56% (9-16) from the free throw line. Idaho converted on 11 less than field goals (35%, 19-54), but used the advantageous whistle and a massive disparity at the free throw line to win. Sacramento State held a 46-18 advantage in paint points.

Today marked the end of a season-long four game road trip, as the Hornets have just seven games left in the regular season until the Big Sky Conference Tournament begins March 8 in Boise.

Coupled with a victory earlier this season in the Nest, Idaho won both games of the season series while improving to 11-14 overall and 6-6 in the Big Sky. As usual, these two teams play close in Moscow, as six of the last seven meetings on Idaho's home floor have been decided by four points or fewer.

The Hornets (6-18, 2-9) were led by Dioramma's big day. The redshirt freshman forward was incredible, finishing with a career-high 19 points while going 9-for-9 from the field and 1-of-1 from the free throw line. He also pulled six rebounds in 27 minutes. Vaughns also had 19 points (7-12, 3-5 3FG) to go with two assists and two steals. Rounding out the Hornets in double figures was freshman Lachlan Brewer who matched his career high with 13 points. He shot 5-of-7 from the field, and 3-for-5 from distance to go with two steals.

Bailey Nunn finished with six points and three assists, but injured his ankle at the 13:31 mark of the second half and did not return. Skytta, in his second game back from injury, had seven points, and EJ Neal added six points and three boards. Ricketts had two points and three rebounds, and it was his acrobatic layup that gave the Hornets a four-point lead at the 2:01 mark.

Sacramento State is back home next week for games against Northern Colorado on Thursday at 7 p.m., and Northern Arizona on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Hornets have just four games left in the Nest.