David Patrick’s Sacramento State team shot a season-high 57% from the field and led for nearly 36 minutes of game clock, including the final 32:24, on the way to a 67-64 win over Kansas City at the Nest.
Today's game was part of the inaugural Big Sky-Summit Challenge. Each program in the Big Sky will play one home game and one road game against teams from the Summit League. Sacramento State concludes the tournament on Saturday at St. Thomas.
Though Sacramento State led the entire second half, Kansas City (formerly UMKC) trailed by six points or less the final 8:32. Sacramento State converted on 27-of-47 shots from the field, had a substantial advantage in points in the paint (42-26), and won despite hitting a season-low three 3-pointers.
Two of those 3-pointers, however, were huge and came from the right hand of Austin Patterson. The junior was clutch late, scoring 10 of his team-high 14 points in the second half, including huge 3-balls at the 4:43 mark, and 3:27 mark. The 3-ball at 4:43 stopped a Kansas City run and extended Sacramento State's lead to four points. The second 3-pointer gave Sacramento State a five-point lead.
Kansas City would trim the deficit to three points (64-61) at the 2:59 mark, but Sacramento State got three free throws from Zee Hamoda over the final 34 seconds. Kansas City scored just three points over the final 2:58. Those three points were a meaningless 30-footer at the buzzer to provide the final outcome.
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