ARCATA, Calif.- After a heartbreaking loss on Saturday evening at home in front of a capacity crowd, the Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks (10-10, 8-6) will look to bounce back on the road this weekend and stay in the top three in a very tight CCAA playoff race when they face off against Stanislaus State and Chico State on Thursday and Saturday. 

"We got our work cut out for us," head coach Tae Norwood said. "[Spots] 3-9 are seperated by about two games. So we're really going to have to play really good basketball in these last eight games to put ourselves in position to make the conference tournament." 

The 'Jacks currently sit three games behind red hot Cal State San Marcos, winners of their last six games, in the current conference standings. Behind them, six squads remain within two games of the third place North Coast squad, with fifth place Chico State behind by only one game. For Coach Norwood, the 'Jacks will have plenty to play for over these next few weeks to ensure they book their ticket to Turlock in March.

"The great thing about it is we control our own destiny," Norwood said. "We just got to come out here, take them one game at a time and put together a group of games where we play well."

Stanislaus State (8-12, 6-8 CCAA)
The last time these two met, Cal Poly Humboldt took care of business with a 79-68 victory at Lumberjack Arena. The Warriors have lost three of their last four games, all on the road, and will be looking to recapture momentum on their home court.

"The first time we played them, we did a really good job of executing against their off zone defense," the coach said. "They play a really funky matchup 2-3 zone. We've got to do a great job of playing inside outside basketball. We should have Cam Timmons back for this game. We missed him in the last two games."

Marlon Short ranks eigth in the conference in scoring with 15.2 ppg while Travion Williams ranks sixth in rebounds with 6.8 per game. He ranks just above Humboldt big man Cam Timmons, who is averaging 6.7 rebounds per contest. Timmons will be back in action this weekend after missing both games last weekend. 

Tip-off is set for Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena in Turlock.

Chico State (9-10, 7-7 CCAA)
The last time these two rivals met, both teams combined for a total score of 228 points, as the Wildcats escaped with a thrilling 116-112 overtime victory in an instant classic at Lumberjack Arena. Since then, the 'Cats have lost four of their last five contests, but came back to defeat Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday to snap their win streak.

"I will promise you we won't give up 116 points that game," Norwood said. "It'll be a very evenly matched game. Jojo Murphy is playing out his role as a true freshman. They got guys that can really shoot the basketball, so we've got to do a good job of making sure we can get stops, especially late in the game. We've got to be able to get out in transition and play transition basketball, because as a unit we're best in transition."

True to Norwood's word, Murphy has been solid as a freshman for the Wildcats, scoring 17.3 points per game, which ranks fifth in the conference. He sits just behind Marlon Ruffin, who has averaged 17.6 points per game this season. Murphy is also second in the conference in 3-point shooting percentage, netting just under 42 percent of his shots from behind-the-arc. 

Tip-off for Saturday's game is slated for 3 p.m. at Acker Gym in Chico.