ARCATA, Calif. – For the first and only time this season, Humboldt State men's basketball will match up against Cal State East Bay and Cal State Monterey Bay. The Lumberjacks (15-6, 9-6) play at home against both California Collegiate Athletic Association schools this week on Thursday and Saturday night, respectively. Both games will follow the women and are scheduled to tip at 7:30 p.m.
 
"We expect a great crowd at Lumberjack Arena," said Head Coach Steve Kinder. "Our whole mission right now is to get a CCAA Tournament bid and have a good seed in that lineup of eight teams that qualify. We certainly have an opportunity to host in the first round, so we are looking forward to competing these next five games and see where the chips fall."
 
Cal State East Bay (8-15, 4-11) enters the week at the bottom of the CCAA standings, but did win their most recent game last Saturday to snap a four-game slide. Despite their position in the standings, the Pioneers lead the conference in rebounding defense, allowing opponents to collect 29.9 boards per game. East Bay's Jalen Richard is a scoring threat. His 15.9 points per game are fifth most in the CCAA.
 
The statistics suggest that plenty of points will be scored on Saturday, as two of the top three scoring teams in the CCAA go head-to-head. HSU hosts Cal State Monterey Bay (10-11, 8-7). The Otters are currently fifth in the conference, one spot below the Jacks, making this one-game season series crucial for both sides. Monterey Bay did have its three-game win streak snapped on Saturday at Chico State.  The Otters are led by the conference's leading scorer, Ryan Nitz, who comes in averaging 19.7 points per game.
 
"It is one game at a time, and every game is a huge victory for us," said Kinder. "Players play, and they get excited about playing. The bottom line from a coaching stand point is that we need to be playing our best basketball in March on that Tuesday night when that CCAA Tournament begins."
 
At halftime of Thursday night's game, Humboldt State will recognize student athletes with high academic achievement from the previous year with a presentation on the court.