ARCATA — An automatic berth in the NCAA West Region Championships is on the line this week when the California Collegiate Athetlc Association Championship is decided in Lumberjack Arena. First round games are set for Tuesday on the campuses of the top four seeds, including the No. 2 seed Lumberjacks, who host No. 7 Sonoma State at 7:30 p.m.
Humboldt State enters the week with a 21-6 overall record after finishing in a tie for first in the CCAA with Cal Poly Pomona, both teams 18-4 in league games.
On-the-Air
Every Lumberjack basketball game is broadcast live over the local airways on KATA, 1340 AM, beginning with the pregame show 15 minutes prior to game time. Bicoastal Media Sports Director J.B. Mathers describes the action from Lumberjack Arena and HSU Assistant Athletic Director Dan Pambianco goes on the road with the Jacks. …Audio is also streamed live over the Internet through the hsujacks.com web site. The new UStream format allows an interactive chat between listeners during the webcast. The specific URL for access is located at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/humboldt-state-athletics.
Live Stats
All Lumberjack basketball home games can be tracked online by using the Live Stats feature on hsujacks.com. Real time statistics, momentum tracker and other information are featured on the game viewer. The feature can be found at http://www.sidearmstats.com/humboldt/mbball/.
Head-to-Head
Humboldt State is 42-35 against Sonoma State in the all-times series, which included home-and-away games just like the current league schedule when both were members of the Northern California Athletic Conference in the 80s and 90s. HSU won both of last year's match-ups, but split this year's series. The Seawolves earned a 65-50 decision in Lumberjack Arena on Dec. 12, before the Jacks traveled to Rohnert Park to administer a 96-55 thrashing.
Projected Starters
G - #12 Ernie Spada, 5-11, 175, Jr., Lake Oswego, Ore.
G - #22 Zac Tiedeman, 6-1, 180, Sr., Santa Rosa, Calif.
C - #32 Brian Morris, 6-9, 270, Jr., Portland, Ore.
F - #34 Elliot Babcock-Krenk, 6-3, 205, So, Lake Oswego, Ore.
F - #24 Kevin Atkins, 6-6, 220, Sr., Long Beach, Calif.
Lumberjack Links
Following are links to more information on the Lumberjack basketball program.
Complete Roster
Schedule
2009-10 Statistics
Head Coach Tom Wood
Lumberjack Head Coach Tom Wood has announced that he will retire following the current season. In 29 years directing the Jacks, Wood's teams have compiled a 462-349 overall record and have won more than 20 games in nine seasons. During the new millennium, Wood's teams have posted a 216-75 overall record, including 124-18 on their home court (the East Gym and Lumberjack Arena).
Lumberjack Notes
Last week's two wins finished off a string of four straight road games, sending the Jacks into the postseason with 13 victories in the last 14 games. The league title is HSU's third in four years as a CCAA member. "It took a big-time effort to finish with those wins on the road," HSU head coach Tom Wood said. "For whatever reasons, we always get our opponents' best effort. We prevailed, and that's testimony to the resolve and focus of our players."…Last week's NCAA West Region poll listed Humboldt State in the No. 4 position, one notch up from the previous week. The final regular season poll is due out Wednesday, with the selection show that announced the actual regional field of eight scheduled for Sunday. …Senior Zac Tiedeman finished the season as the CCAA's statistical leader in free throw percentage (.893), 3-point percentage (.500)and assists/turnover ratio (3.0). Over the entire 27-game season, Tiedeman averaged 12.5 points per game and had 119 assists. Tiedeman's single game highs included 22 points, 8 assists (on three different occasions) and 8 rebounds. …Junior post Brian Morris was Humboldt State's top scorer and rebounder for the 2009-10 season, averaging 14.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Morris was the CCAA's statistical leader in field goal percentage (.639) was fourth in scoring (14.5 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (6.2 rpg) in league games. Morris had a CCAA single-game best of 12 field goals in a game, equal to the number posted by teammate Kevin Atkins in the regular-season finale vs. UC San Diego.
Opponents' Notes
Pat Fuscaldo's Seawolves have been one of the more resurgent teams in the CCAA during the league's second half. Sonoma State had won three straight on the road, in fact, before stumbling in the season finale against CSU East Bay. The Seawolves dropped that contest, 94-82. …Sophomore guard Steve Pratt has been burning the nets all season for SSU, and leads his team with a 14.5 points per game scoring average. Senior Chad Chambers is the team's top rebounder with 5.1 boards per game. …Sharp-shooting freshman Wil Olsem has hit 42 percent of his 3-point attempts, knocking down a team-best 70 in 165 attempts. The guard from Sacramento is averaging 10.6 points per game.
Wood's Words
"Sonoma State beat us here early in the season, but it's still good to be back here at home." … "(Sonoma State) is a different team than when we last played them, but we're a different team, too. They're much more polished. They have a very coherent idea of what they want tot do." …"Our players all come from winning programs. They've been in this situation before. Guys like Zac (Tiedeman), Ernie (Spada) and Elliot (Babcock-Krenk) enjoy this type of game." …"Brian Morris has been a difference-maker in the second half of the season, that's obvious. And Kevin Atkins is playing very well. He's acting like a senior who understands that this is it."
