ARCATA, Calif. – The Humboldt State men's basketball team, fueled by a 27-point effort from senior
Justin Everett, defeated New Hope Christian College 89-66 Monday night.
The Lumberjacks scored the first basket 28 seconds into the non-conference showdown and never relinquished the lead. Despite committing 10 first-half turnovers, the North Coast squad went into the locker room with a 42-35 advantage.
"When we went to the locker room at halftime, the coaches instilled confidence in us and made us believe we can play better play to our potential," said HSU freshman LJ Williams. "The second half, I felt like we came out and respected the game a lot more and really tried to give the fans a show tonight."
HSU went on a 10-2 run to begin the second half and turned to its reserve players to close it out. Fourteen Jacks logged game minutes as the home team out-hustled the Deacons on the glass winning the rebounding battle 67-28. The Green and Gold relied on their relentless defensive intensity and held to opposition to a 35.8 percent shooting night en route to the Jacks fourth straight victory.
"We try to keep our reserve players encouraged," said Williams. "This team has a saying 'Stay ready, you never know when your number is getting called.' Early in the season, I went from playing minimal minutes to playing more minutes on this team, and the best advice I can give to the other guys is stay ready because you never know when the team will need you. This is a long season, and we are going to need everyone on this team to participate to help us win."
Everett led all players with 27 points and also pulled down seven boards, while Williams finished as the game's leading rebounder with 12.
"It was one of those games where we were riding an emotional high coming off of a Chico State rivalry win at home with a last-second shot to a non-conference game," said Head Coach Steve Kinder. "A game that had no students around, they are at home during holiday break and our student-athletes are asked to stay here. So emotionally it's challenging, so for them to show up to the game and play at a high level that was something we tried to prepare them for tonight, and we will have to do a better job on Wednesday."
HSU will end its five-game homestand Wednesday, Dec. 19 as the Green and Gold host Bethesda University in Lumberjack Arena at 7 p.m.
