SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Thunderbirds of Southern Utah and the Hornets of Sacramento State played an extremely close contest in Sacramento on Thursday night, that ended in favor of the Hornets in overtime 69-63.

“Despite a slow offensive start and struggles from the three-point line, our defense tonight was great for 45 minutes and kept us close, especially in the second half,” SUU head coach Nick Robinson said about his team's effort.

The Thunderbirds didn't come out of the gate very hot, having to endure a scoreless streak early in the first half that lasted about six minutes.

However, with Sacramento State up 21-8, the Thunderbirds went on a 12-0 run that was sparked by back-to-back threes by James McGee and Christian Thompson, and highlighted by a Juwan Major dunk.

That run pulled the Thunderbirds right back in it, and the Hornets had a slim 25-22 lead when the first half came to a close.

Eight different players scored for the Thunderbirds in the first half, and none of the eight exceeded four points.

The T-Birds came out hot in the second half, scoring the first six points of the period. SUU would build a seven point lead, however, the Hornets weren't phased and pushed themselves back in the lead and build a seven point lead of their own with under eight minutes to play.

The Thunderbird kept pushing, however, and only trailed by a basket with two and a half minutes to play.

Down the stretch SUU's Travon Langston made four clutch free-throws to keep the Thunderbirds tied up with the Hornets, and the game was forced to overtime with the score knotted up at 61-61.

After the two teams traded baskets to begin the extra period, the Hornets were able to take control and pull ahead, eventually knocking off the T-Birds 69-63.

“Sacramento State made some tough shots and we didn't finish some critical plays,” Robinson said.

Sacramento State ended up outscoring SUU 8-2 in the overtime period.

Trey Kennedy led the Thunderbirds in scoring with 15, and Travon Langston finished with 11.

The Hornets had four players in double-figures, led by Nick Hornby who had 16.

“It's two games in a row, on the road, where we've given ourselves a great chance to win the game,” Robinson said. “We came up short tonight but have to bounce back on Saturday.”

The Thunderbirds will be back in action on Saturday against Portland State. That game is set to begin at 8 p.m. MST.

This will be the final regular-season contest for the Thunderbirds, as they will head to the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Reno after playing in Portland.

The game can be heard over the airwaves on KSUB 590 and viewed online at WatchBigSky.com