Hornets End Road Losing Streak

College basketball

Damond Edwards scored 19 points and Michael Boyd added 18 as Sacramento State ended its 54-game road losing string by rallying in the second half Thursday night for a 68-56 win over Loyola of Chicago in Chicago.

The Hornets (3-10) earned their first victory on the road since moving into Division I four years ago.

“Once we felt like we could do it, we turned it up a notch,” said Sacramento State coach Don Newman, a former University of Idaho star and Washington State assistant coach. “We just tightened some things up and rebounded very well.”

Loyola (3-6) led by as many as 11 points in the first half, but Sacramento State cut the deficit to 30-24 at halftime and dominated the second half.

The Hornets took the lead for good when Edwards converted a three-point play with 6:07 left for a 48-46 advantage.

Sacramento State will host Gonzaga for a non-league game Sunday afternoon.

(4) UMass 80, Saint Louis 74 Lou Roe had 29 points and eight rebounds and the Minutemen (7-1) ended a 22-game home winning streak for the Billikens (8-1).

(6) Connecticut 102, Hartford 77 Ray Allen scored 20 points and Travis Knight added 16 as the Huskies (9-0) took a break from their Big East schedule to beat the Hawks (2-6) at Storrs, Conn.

(20) N.M. St. 98, Long Beach St. 78 Rodney Walker scored seven points as the Aggies (1-1, 10-3) went on a 22-10 run in the final 3:51 to beat the 49ers (0-1, 4-3) in Big West play at Long Beach, Calif.