Denker banks in 3-pointer at the buzzer as Idaho beats Sacramento State in Big Sky Conference opener

By The Associated Press

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Quinn Denker banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to help Idaho defeat Sacramento State 61-58 on Thursday night in a Big Sky Conference opener.

Idaho inbounded it with 3.0 seconds left. Julius Mims caught a long pass from Tyler Linhardt and handed it off to Denker at the 3-point line for a contested shot at the horn — to avoid a third straight overtime game in the series.

Denker shot 6 for 13 (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 6 of 6 from the free throw line to finish with 21 points for the Vandals (7-6). Mims scored 18 points while shooting 7 for 11, including 3 for 3 from beyond the arc, and added nine rebounds. Linhardt had nine points and shot 4 for 9, including 0 for 3 from beyond the arc.

The Hornets (3-9) were led in scoring by Duncan Powell, who finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. Sacramento State also got 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocks from Akolda Mawein. In addition, Zee Hamoda had 12 points and two steals.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.