Box Score ARCATA – Coming off a huge upset just two nights before, Humboldt State knew it needed to grab another victory Friday night in order to validate handing the No. 1 UC San Diego Tritons their first loss of the season. After a slow start, the Jacks turned their play around and defeated Cal State San Bernardino 61-55.
Humboldt State finishes in second place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association with the win, standing at 19-7 overall, 15-7 in conference. After failing to secure a berth in the conference tournament, CSUSB finishes the season 9-17 overall and 8-14 in CCAA action.
Perhaps hearing its seniors' past accomplishments distracted Humboldt State, but the Jacks started sluggish, missing their first nine shots from the field. After finding themselves trailing 20-9 with just over five minutes left to play in the first half, the Jacks turned their play around and cut the lead to four, heading into the half down 24-20.
"We had to use halftime to refocus, the team did a much better job in the second half," said head coach
Joddie Gleason. "We tried to feed Bree the ball more. Kayla and Lisa (Petty) did a great job matching San Bernardino's toughness in the second half."
After shooting 33 percent from the field in the first half, the Jacks regrouped to post a 50 percent shooting effort in the second half, led by
Lisa Petty's 21 points. Williams finished right behind Petty with 15 points and Halsey scored in double-figures for the 10th time this season with 11 points.
Down 26-22 one minute into the second half, Humboldt State bunkered down and went on a five-point run to take its first lead of the contest at 27-26. The Jacks went on to lead by as many as eight points, but couldn't break into a double-digit lead, finishing 61-55 over the Coyotes.
"We had to buckle down and use our offense," said Petty. "Using screens helped us pull this win out tonight."
The victory allows HSU to enter the conference tournament in the No. 4 seed with a home game on Tuesday Feb. 28, at 5.30 in the Lumberjack Arena, likely facing rival Chico State in the fifth seed.
"We are at our peak right now, and it will be nice not to travel for the first tournament game," said Halsey.
The Jacks find themselves playing their best basketball of the season at the right time, winning six of the last seven games and look to continue the momentum into the tournament and beyond.
In other CCAA contests: UC San Diego rebounded with a 78-58 victory over Sonoma State; Chico State downed Cal State East Bay 74-59; San Francisco State fell 55-72 to Cal State Los Angeles; and Cal Poly Pomona handed Cal State Dominguez Hills its season-ending loss at 62-48.
