ARCATA — After clinching the California Collegiate Athletic Association regular season title Wednesday, Humboldt State's men's basketball team finished the regular season with a hard-fought 76-70 win over Cal State Los Angeles Friday. The improved the Lumberjacks' record to 24-2 overall and 20-2 in league as they head into postseason play.
Boxscore
The Lumberjacks will host a first-round game of the CCAA Championship Tournament on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena. While no official word had been released by the league office Friday evening, Humboldt State's opponent appears to be Cal State Stanislaus.
Brian Morris, one of two seniors honored in pregame ceremonies Friday, led the Lumberjacks wtih 28 points and 12 rebounds.
Ernie Spada, the other senior, hit four clutch free throws in the three minutes to help keep the Golden Eagles at bay.
Cal State Los Angeles, 14-12 overall and 10-12 in league, built a nine-point lead in the first half, riding the scoring thrust of senior guard Franklin Session. Finishing the evening with a team-high 23 points, Session scored 18 of them in the opening half.
Charging back, Humboldt State closed the gap to one point when
Elliot Babcock-Krenk made two free throws, and then took its first lead of the night when Brandon Sperling hit two more. HSU headed into halftime with a 36-35 advantage.
The Lumberjacks pushed their lead up to 13 points miedway through the second half when Babcock-Krenk hit a 3-pointer with 11 minutes, 24 seconds remaining. But the Eagles answered with a 20-5 run, gaining their largest lead of the second half on David Norris' jumper with 4:12 left to be played.
DJ Broome tied the scored on a pair of free throws, and two more by Spada gave the Jacks a lead they wouldn't surrender the rest of the way. Randy Hunter stepped up to grab a key rebounds and block a shot in the final 22 seconds to thwart CSLA's efforts down the stretch.
Also scoring in double figures for HSU were Sperling, with 28 points, and Hunter, wtih 14. Sperling grabbed eight rebounds and Hunter had seven to help the Jacks out-rebound the Eagles, 37-28.
Norris equaled Session's team high scoring output with 23 points, and Chris Robinson contributed 13 points and eight rebounds for Cal State Los Angeles.
