ARCATA — Breaking open the game with a 12-2 run to start the second half, Humboldt State breezed past Willamette University, 95-71 in Friday's feature game of the Lawrence R. DeBeni Holiday Classic.

With the win, the Jacks improved to 6-2 on the year while Willamette dropped to 2-6. The Bearcats play Chico State at 5:30 p.m. Saturday when the event resumes, while the host Lumberjacks face Seattle University in the finale at 7:30 p.m.

HSU struggled in the opening half Friday, making only 37 percent of its shots from the field, but bounced back to drain 67 percent in the second half. Grayson Moyer, who topped the Jacks in scoring, was on his mark all night, making all five of his shots from the field and six of seven free throws for a team-high 18 points.

All the Lumberjacks got into the action, spreading the scoring wealth.  Ernie Spada and Devin Peal each contributed 15 points each, and Cy Vandermeer had 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Threatening the upset for much of the first half, WIllamette received double-digits from Kyler McClary, Mike Smith and Corey Constantino. McClary led the way with 17 points, Smith added 15 and Costantino came off the bench for 10.

Employing a frantic press, the Jacks gained an early  advantage over the Bearcats, taking a 15-6 lead in the opening minutes, But the Bearcats gained momentum when the Jacks' shooting touch deserted them, finding their own range from beyond the arc.

In fact, Willamette connected on four straight thee-pointers on four trips down the floor, taking a 20-17 lead on Constantino's aerial. They stretched the advantage to as many as seven points before HSU again found its game.

Atter edging back ahead at the free throw line, the Jacks finished the half with five straight points. James Givins' reverse layin at the buzzer provided HSU with a 38-32 lead at the break.

"There was a stretch in the first half where I kept us in a defense that wasn't working," Wood said. "I was disappointed with the energy level we showed for awhile, but we turned it aroudn when we finally got energized.."

The second half was all Lumberjacks from the outset. Coming off the bench to key the surge was Efren Del Rio, who hit three of four three-pointers, helping HSU moved up by as many as 27 points.

Seattle University 95, Chico State 74

No. 7 ranked Seattle University broke open a tight game in the second half, exploding to a 95-74 win over Chico State in the opening game of the Lawrence R. DeBeni Holiday Classic on Friday.

Michael Knight scored 21 points to lead five Redhawks achieving double figures. Mike Boxley and Ricky Berry each scored 13 points, Ryan Coldren added 12 and Chris Geth had 11 to help Seattle U. improve to 6-0 on the season.

Darroll Phillips paced the WIldcats with 21 points while Frank Igbekoyi had 19 and Mike Martin 17 points for Chico State. WIth the loss, the WIldcats dropped to 3-5 overall.

Knight came off the bench to fuel the Redhawks' offense in the opening half, scoring 17 points while hitting 5-of-7 from three-point range. He hit a jumper from regular range to provide Seattle with its largest advantage of the period at 19-13.

Chico State quickly caught up, and traded baskets with the Redhawks until two free throws by Hawkins moved the WIldcats ahead, 30-29 with 7:26 left in the half. Those points continued a run that grew to 11 unanswered points, providing the Cats with an eight-point lead.

The Redhawks answered with their own surge, scoring the final 11 points of the half to gain a 40-37 lead at the break.

Seattle University dominated the second half, growing the lead to 19 points before the midway point.  The closest the Wildcats would come the remainder of the game was a 14-point deficit.


Willamette Univer. vs Humboldt State Men
12/20/07 7:30 pm at Arcata, Calif.
At Arcata, Calif.
HUMBOLDT STATE MEN 95, WILLAMETTE UNIVER. 71
WILLAMETTE UNIVER. (2-6)
McClary, Kyler 6-14 2-2 17; Smith, Mike 4-9 3-3 15; Costantino, Corey 4-9
0-1 10; Cantrell, Tain 3-4 0-0 6; Mitchell, Cameron 3-4 0-0 6; Currie, Simon
2-3 0-0 6; Thompson, Ricky 2-5 0-0 4; Kunke, Robbie 1-2 0-0 3; Mansfield,
Ian 1-3 0-1 2; Spang, Sean 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 27-54 5-7 71.
HUMBOLDT STATE MEN (6-2)
MOYER, Grayson 5-5 6-7 18; SPADA, Ernie 5-9 1-1 15; PEAL, Devin 6-9 2-3 15;
VANDERMEER, Cy 5-12 3-5 13; DEL RIO, Efren 3-5 0-0 9; SHEUFELT, Will 2-9 5-7
9; GREEN, Nick 3-5 0-0 6; GIVENS, James 1-4 3-4 5; FIGGATT, Jameson 2-3 0-1
4; JEFFERSON, David 0-0 1-2 1; KEHRIG, Mike 0-1 0-0 0; BURNS, Tyler 0-1 0-0
0. Totals 32-63 21-30 95.
Willamette Univer.............   32   39  -   71
Humboldt State Men............   38   57  -   95
3-point goals--Willamette Univer. 12-23 (Smith, Mike 4-8; McClary, Kyler
3-6; Costantino, Corey 2-2; Currie, Simon 2-3; Kunke, Robbie 1-2; Mansfield,
Ian 0-1; Mitchell, Cameron 0-1), Humboldt State Men 10-21 (SPADA, Ernie 4-7;
DEL RIO, Efren 3-4; MOYER, Grayson 2-2; PEAL, Devin 1-1; GIVENS, James 0-1;
KEHRIG, Mike 0-1; BURNS, Tyler 0-1; SHEUFELT, Will 0-4). Fouled
out--Willamette Univer.-None, Humboldt State Men-None. Rebounds--Willamette
Univer. 29 (Mitchell, Cameron 7), Humboldt State Men 36 (VANDERMEER, Cy 9).
Assists--Willamette Univer. 21 (Costantino, Corey 4), Humboldt State Men 18
(SHEUFELT, Will 5). Total fouls--Willamette Univer. 25, Humboldt State Men
16. Technical fouls--Willamette Univer.-None, Humboldt State Men-None.
A-1008
DeBeni Classic #2


Seattle University vs Chico State
12/20/07 5:30 pm at Arcata, Calif.
At Arcata, Calif.
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY 95, CHICO STATE 74
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY (6-0)
Knight,Michael 8-12 0-0 21; Berry,Ricky 4-9 4-4 13; Boxley,Mike 2-5 9-11 13;
Coldren,Ryan 4-9 3-3 12; Gweth,Chris 3-3 3-4 11; Burl,Shaun 3-3 1-1 8;
Wright,Michael 3-5 1-1 7; Powers,Austen 2-3 2-2 6; Swanson,Leigh 1-2 0-0 2;
Olson,Taylor 0-0 2-2 2; Harris,Drew 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-51 25-28 95.
CHICO STATE (3-5)
PHILLIPS, Darroll 6-12 5-5 21; IGBEKOYI, Frank 7-14 5-6 19; MARTIN, Mike
5-12 4-4 17; SOTO, Jesse 4-8 0-0 10; HAWKINS, Rod 2-3 2-2 6; BRADLEY, Shane
0-4 1-2 1; SANTIAGO, Luis 0-0 0-0 0; BAKER, Maurice 0-0 0-0 0; JACKSON, Josh
0-3 0-0 0; SMITH, Ryan 0-1 0-0 0; ASH, Robert 0-0 0-0 0; ARGENAL, Justin 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 24-59 17-19 74.
Seattle University............   40   55  -   95
Chico State...................   37   37  -   74
3-point goals--Seattle University 10-20 (Knight,Michael 5-8; Gweth,Chris
2-2; Coldren,Ryan 1-4; Burl,Shaun 1-1; Berry,Ricky 1-5), Chico State 9-23
(PHILLIPS, Darroll 4-8; MARTIN, Mike 3-8; SOTO, Jesse 2-5; ARGENAL, Justin
0-2). Fouled out--Seattle University-None, Chico State-None.
Rebounds--Seattle University 34 (Coldren,Ryan 5; Boxley,Mike 5;
Swanson,Leigh 5), Chico State 25 (IGBEKOYI, Frank 4; MARTIN, Mike 4;
JACKSON, Josh 4). Assists--Seattle University 16 (Burl,Shaun 6), Chico State
16 (PHILLIPS, Darroll 5). Total fouls--Seattle University 16, Chico State
26. Technical fouls--Seattle University-Swanson,Leigh, Chico State-None.
A-400
DeBeni Classic Game #1