Sacramento State rallies to beat Idaho 68-65

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Justin Strings scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and made three assists to help Sacramento State rally to beat Idaho 68-65 on Saturday night to sweep the season series against the Vandals.

Cody Demps scored 18 points, Dreon Bartlett scored 12 off the bench and the Hornets (11-14, 4-10 Big Sky) shot 56.8 percent in the second half in ending a four-game skid.

Trailing 30-22 at halftime, the Hornets rallied to a 58-54 lead on Jeff Wu’s 3-pointer amid a 16-4 run, then led 60-58 after Demps’ free throw with 3:12 to go.

“They became the moreaggressive team,” Vandals coach Don Verlin said. “We got up 11 and we didn’t finish this basketball game. They grabbed the momentum, they outrebounded us; they outcompeted us on both ends of the court.”

Perrion Callendret’s free throw pulled the Vandals within 67-65 with 10 seconds left, but Trevis Jackson split a pair of free throws for the Hornets. Callendret missed a 3 with 1 second left.

Callandret scored 14 points for the Vandals (17-11, 9-6), who lost to the Hornets 65-63 on Jan. 28. Saturday night’s loss ended a three-game win streak.