ARCATA, Calif. – It was a night full of Rakim Brown points and Malik Morgan assists. The Lumberjack pair helped Humboldt State (16-6, 10-6) pull away in the second half to earn the 82-75 victory over Cal State East Bay (8-15, 4-11) on Thursday night.
 
"When we went into that zone, we were able to get them out of rhythm," said Head Coach Steve Kinder. "We were trading baskets and it didn't look like we were going to go ahead. By changing defenses, it got us four or five stops in a row which gave us a little bit of breathing room."
 
The Jacks got out to a quick start, going up 12 points at 20-8 on Thomas Witzel's 3-pointer, less than eight minutes into the game. The first-half lead great to as high as 15 when Justin Everett drained a long ball of his own on the next play, courtesy of one of Malik Morgan's career-high 11 assists. The Pioneers were able to stick around, cutting their deficit to just five at the break, 41-36.
 
East Bay continued to chip away to open the second half, eventually taking the lead
at 48-46 with under 14 to play. The visitor's lead stood until the 10:53 mark in the second half, when Everett scored on another Morgan dime. Everett's 13 points are the most he's scored against a conference opponent in his two seasons.
 
Tied at 56 all, Rakim Brown scored a lay-up that sparked a 10-0 Humboldt run. The senior seemed to get to the basket at will, either scoring or getting to the free throw line time and time again. Brown finished with a career-high 33 points and converted a career-best 15 free throws on 17 attempts.
 
The Jacks again put it into another gear once East Bay cut it to single digits again. Up eight points at 73-65, the Green and Gold rattled off 12 unanswered points, with Morgan assisting on three of the four field goals in the run.
 
"Malik not only had a remarkable game statistically, but he was a true quarterback of the basketball team tonight by having a really good pulse of the play calling," said Head Coach Steve Kinder.
 
Freshman Jack Kaub's dunk with 41 seconds to play gave the Jacks its final points and put the home team up 20, 87-67. The Pioneers finished the game with the final eight points including a three at the buzzer.
 
Humboldt State remains in fourth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association with four games remaining on the schedule. HSU hosts Cal State Monterey Bay, who sits a game-back of the Jacks in the CCAA standings, on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at Lumberjack Arena.