ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Humboldt State men's basketball outscored Sonoma State by 16 in the second half to earn the victory on Saturday night. The Lumberjacks (15-6, 9-6) defeated Sonoma State (12-9, 7-8), 67-51, and held their opponent to a season-low 51 points.

"I think we showed some mental toughness within a 24 hour period of time," said Head Coach Steve Kinder. "They came out fired up, but we were able to sustain that and shot it extremely well to pull away in the second half."
 
The Seawolves scored the game's first six points before Rakim Brown put the Jacks on the board with a layup at 17:58. HSU was able to tie the game for the first time with 12:12 remaining in the opening half when Colin Caslick knocked down a 3-pointer from Nikhil Lizotte.
 
A pair of Thomas Witzel free throws gave the Green and Gold its first lead, and Ethan Dillards' three gave the Jacks their largest lead of the first half, 16-12. The score would end up being tied a total of five times in the first 20 minutes, including the 26-26 tie that the teams brought into the halftime locker room.
 
Sonoma broke the tie after intermission, but the Jacks strung together six straight points, capped by another Dillard basket from long range, to go up five, 35-30. The Seawolves tied it up again with a 5-0 run of their own, and eventually went up by three, 40-37, with 14:16 to play.
 
The Green and Gold then scored 17 unanswered, to lead 54-40, and retake the lead for good. The lead grew to as high as 19 in the second half.

Brown led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting and grabbed 16 rebounds en route to his team-leading eighth double-double. Malik Morgan added 11 points and five assists in the win.
 
Sonoma's 19 made field goals, four made threes, seven assists, and 32.8 percent shooting were all lows by an HSU opponent this season.
 
Humboldt State returns to the North Coast for a pair of conference game. HSU hosts Cal State East Bay on Feb. 11 and Cal State Monterey Bay on Feb. 13.