ARCATA — Spreading the wealth, Humboldt State had five players score in double digits to help the Jacks claim at least a share of the California Collegiate Athletic Association title with a 76-68 win over Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday.

Boxscore

Since joining the CCAA five years ago, the Lumberjacks have either shared or earned the league title outright four times. Two home games next week, including Wednesday's matchup against second place CSU Dominguez Hills, will decide if the Jacks have to share the regular season crown.

"We have a great group  of players that created a high level of cameraderie, and a coaching staff that believes in the system we inheritied from coach (Tom) Wood," first year head-coach Steve Kinder said.." It's a powerful feeling to achieve this success. I never would have imagined winning a championship the first year."

On Saturday, momentum swings eventually favored the Lumberjacks, but not before the Otters put forth a bid for the upset. They came up short, however, when Randy Hunter, Brian Morris and Brandon Sperling hit clutch shots down the stretch to lift the Jacks to 22-2 overall and 18-2 in the CCAA.

Hunter finished with 17 points and nine rebounds to lead the Lumberjacks, while Morris scored 16 points. Kyle Baxter had 14 with nine rebounds, and Sperling scored 13, also grabbing nine rebounds. Ernie Spada hit thee key 3-pointers, finishing with 10 points.

HSU trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, falling behind 23-13 when Davion Berry hit his third straight 3-pointer. Berry led all scorers with 30 points, but following his explosive first half, was held to seven in the second period.

The Jacks came storming back, taking the lead on Spada's 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 48 seconds left until halftime. Scott Clark's layup gave the Jacks a 41-33 lead at the break..

Most of the second half featured the Jacks and Otters trading baskets, HSU never letting the lead drop beneath seven and pushing it to 12 on two occasions. But the Otters surged back, cutting the lead to two points when James Thomas hit his third 3-pointer with 3:18 on the clock.

Humboldt State responded with consecutive jumpers from Hunter and Morris, and Sperling added a pair of free throws to account for the final margin of victory.

"We took baby seps in the beginning, and the snowball got going," Kinder said. Our seniors have been the key. Brian Morris is our emotional leader and Ernie Spada is the anchor of our team. The other players really respond to them.

Following Wednesday's game in Lumberjack Arena, the Jacks will close out the regular season Friday when Cal State Los Angeles comes to town. The CCAA postseason tournament begins the following Tuesday, March 1, with the Jacks guaranteed to host a first-round contest.

Newspaper Box Score
Humboldt State vs CSU Monterey Bay
02/19/11 7:30 PM at Seaside, Calif. (Kelp Bed)
At Seaside, Calif. (Kelp Bed)
HUMBOLDT STATE 76, CSU MONTEREY BAY 68
HUMBOLDT STATE (22-2 (18-2 CCAA))
HUNTER, Randy 6-15 5-6 17; MORRIS, Brian 5-10 6-10 16; BAXTER, Kyle 5-8 4-5
14; SPERLING, Brandon 4-7 5-7 13; SPADA, Ernie 3-5 1-2 10; CLARK, Scott 1-3
3-4 5; BABCOCK-KRENK, Ellio 0-2 1-2 1; BROWN, Tyler 0-0 0-0 0; BROOME, DJ
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 25-36 76.
CSU MONTEREY BAY (9-15 (7-13 CCAA))
BERRY, Davion 7-17 12-14 30; FREEMAN, Warren 3-8 2-2 8; ANDERSON, Derrick
3-5 1-2 7; WARD, Brandon 3-8 0-0 6; THOMAS JR, James 2-3 0-1 6; CAMPBELL,
Jeremiah 2-3 0-0 4; WONG, Kyle 1-1 2-2 4; ALBERT, James 1-1 0-0 2; GARRETT,
Jordan 0-0 1-2 1; WATKINS, Troy 0-0 0-0 0; PHILLIPS, Darroll 0-8 0-0 0.
Totals 22-54 18-23 68.
Humboldt State................   41   35  -   76
CSU Monterey Bay..............   33   35  -   68
3-point goals--Humboldt State 3-10 (SPADA, Ernie 3-5; MORRIS, Brian 0-1;
BAXTER, Kyle 0-1; SPERLING, Brandon 0-1; CLARK, Scott 0-1; BABCOCK-KRENK,
Ellio 0-1), CSU Monterey Bay 6-19 (BERRY, Davion 4-8; THOMAS JR, James 2-2;
WARD, Brandon 0-2; PHILLIPS, Darroll 0-6; FREEMAN, Warren 0-1). Fouled
out--Humboldt State-BABCOCK-KRENK, Ellio, CSU Monterey Bay-BERRY, Davion;
ALBERT, James; GARRETT, Jordan; FREEMAN, Warren. Rebounds--Humboldt State 33
(HUNTER, Randy 9; BAXTER, Kyle 9; SPERLING, Brandon 9), CSU Monterey Bay 25
(PHILLIPS, Darroll 6). Assists--Humboldt State 9 (HUNTER, Randy 3), CSU
Monterey Bay 11 (BERRY, Davion 3). Total fouls--Humboldt State 21, CSU
Monterey Bay 27. Technical fouls--Humboldt State-None, CSU Monterey
Bay-None. A-550