by Jerry Feitelberg

The Stanford Cardinal (5-4) met the Sacramento State Hornets(6-3) Monday night at Maples Pavilion. The two teams played a spirited, competitive contest. The Cardinal pulled away late in the game to defeat the Hornets70-60.

Stanford could not get anything going until late in the first half. The Sacramento State Hornets played an a strong defense and led 19-10 about halfway through the first half. The Cardinal’s Dorian Pickens knocked down two 3-point shots to close the gap to three, but Sac State’s Justin Springer nailed a three to give the Hornets a six-point lead. At this point in the game, the Cardinal shot a woeful 26.1 % from the floor. With a little over five minutes left in the half, the Cardinal found its rhythm and was able to tie the game at 28 with just 2:51 left to play. Sophomore forward Mike Humphrey made two key buckets to bring the Cardinal even with the Hornets. Stanford took the lead for the first time on a Josh Sharma deuce. Dorian Pickens made his third 3-pointer and was fouled on the play. Pickens made the free throw, and Stanford has a six-point advantage with just 25.7 seconds left in the half. The Hornets did not go quietly. Guard Cody Demps knocked down a trey, and the half ended with Stanford holding a 36-33. lead. Stanford shooting from the floor improved to 42.4%.Sac State, however, shot 54.2% Mike Humphrey, and Dorian Pickens led the Cardinal in scoring. Humphrey had 12 and Pickens added 14.

The Cardinal started strong in the second half. They led by ten points twice in the early part of the half. With 13:46 left, and trailing by ten. Sac State went on an eight-point run to close the gap to just two points. From that point,  the game raged up and down the court. Stanford went cold, and the Hornets refused to quit but could not quite catch up. The Sac State fans were making more noise than the Stanford crowd and went wild when they Hornets tied the game at 56. Rosco Allen broke the tie with 5:08 left Sac State star, center Eric Stuteville, fouled out on the play. He had nineteen points to lead the Hornets in scoring. Stanford went on a 7-0 run to take a ten-point lead with just 1:15 left. The Cardinal defense prevented the Hornets from scoring and ran out the clock to preserve the win.Final score 70-60 in favor of Stanford.

Stars of the game were Michael Humphrey with 21 points and Dorian Pickens. Pickens knocked down twenty. Rosco Allen added 11, and Marcus Allen pitched in with 9. Sacramento State’s Eric Stuteville led his team with 19 points before fouling out late in the second half. Marcus Graves had 11, and Justin Strings knocked down 10 in a losing effort. Stanford improves to 6-4 while Sac State drops to 6-4.