GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Senior Mikh McKinney's runner with 2.8 seconds left lifted Sacramento State to a 63-61 victory over North Dakota in Big Sky men's basketball action Thursday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. McKinney finished with 13 points as the Hornets (9-5, 3-0 BSC) remained unbeaten in three league contests and became the first visiting team to win a game in this series that is now tied at 4-4.

Redshirt freshman Carson Shanks led four double-figure scorers for UND (5-9, 1-2 BSC) with a season-high 14 points. Senior Jaron Nash and junior Terrel de Rouen each added 11, while sophomore Quinton Hooker rounded out that quartet with 10 points.

Zach Mills led all scorers with 17 points off the Hornets' bench that also got 12 points from Alex Tiffin. Co-captain Dylan Garrity gave SAC four double-figure scorers as well with 10 points of his own.

Nash gave UND a 61-59 lead with just over 90 seconds to play after getting a ball steal and finishing the play off with a thunderous dunk, but the Hornets got a tying basket from Cody Demps on their next possession to even things up for the sixth time in the game.

Nash would get a chance to give UND another lead, but his runner was strong and Mills boarded the miss to set up McKinney's late heroics.

“That was a tough way to lose, but McKinney is one of the best guards in our league and he made a good play there at the end,” UND head coach Brian Jones said.

UND started off the game with a 10-2 run and held SAC to just one field in the opening eight minutes, but the Hornets got six quick points with five of those coming from Mills to get right back in the game. UND's advantage could have been much larger early on, but the home team missed some shots around the rim throughout the night that would prove to be costly.

“Offensively, I thought we executed well, but you cannot miss that many point-blank layups when you get to the rim,” Jones added. “Defensively, we did not do a good enough job of keeping them off the glass. Second-chance points were 10-2 and that was a big difference in the game.”

McKinney would lead an 8-0 spurt midway through the first half that gave the visitors their first lead of the game at 21-18. SAC would lead the rest of the half and take a 34-30 edge into the locker room after making 10 of its last 15 field goals.

SAC would never lead by more than six and senior Lenny Antwi gave UND the lead back midway through the second half with a transition 3-pointer. It would be a back-and-forth affair the rest of the way.

Shanks provided UND with its largest lead after the break at 58-54 on a pair of free throws with 3:40 to play, but Demps, whose only four points came in the final two minutes, squared things up at 59-59 with a putback off a McKinney miss.

Mills had eight of SAC's first 13 points and scored 10 more than his average of 6.7 ppg. Mills also had five rebounds and helped the Hornets hold a 31-22 edge on the glass, including an 8-3 advantage in offensive boards.

SAC finished shooting 50 percent from the floor (24-for-48), while UND shot 51 percent (24-for-47).

UND stays at home for another Big Sky tilt on Saturday as Portland State visits for a 2 p.m. tipoff.

-- UND --