TURLOCK, Calif.--- The Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks concluded the 2022-23 campaign on Thursday afternoon, bowing out to the No. 5 seed Sonoma State Seawolves 73-57 in the first round of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament at Fitzpatrick Arena. Redshirt junior Brandon Porter led the way for the 'Jacks with 18 points off 53 percent shooting from the field as well as eight rebounds, while junior Kareem Clark chipped in 10 points and four rebounds.

"It was a battle of two halves," head coach Tae Norwood said. "We controlled the tempo and we controlled the pace of play in the first half. We made an emphasis of putting the ball inside and pushing in transition. In the second half, it was the total opposite."

The Green & Gold battled back and forth in the first half, with four lead changes and three tie games in the first 20 minutes of action. A steal and fastbreak dunk by Porter started things off for the 'Jacks, but Sonoma held tough. A Bryce Mitchell 3-pointer five minutes in gave the North Coast squad a six point lead, 11-5, but the Seawolves responded with a 6-0 run to tie things back up. Sonoma took its first lead of day 15-14 with 11:52 remaining off a layup by Iyawe Dillon. The Seawolves expanded their lead to six with 5:27 remaining in the first frame, but a layup by Cam Timmons and a fastbreak 3-pointer by Ian Krishnan a few minutes later put the 'Jacks back on top 24-23. Timmons secured the old fashioned 3-point play to expand the Lumberjack lead to four with 3:28 left, but Sonoma continued to cover, regaining the lead with a Jaylen Wells jumper to put the Seawolves up 29-28 with under two minutes remaining. Porter secured a layup with under a minute left to give the 'Jacks a 30-29 advantage heading into halftime.

Both teams swapped the lead back and forth through the first four minutes of the second half. However, back-to-back trips to the free throw line by Dillon keyed a 10-0 run by Sonoma over the next four minutes from which the 'Jacks weren't able to recover. A Kareem Clark jumper stopped the bleeding with 12 minutes remaining, but the damage had already been done. The 'Jacks got as close as five when Amari Green drew a foul on a jumper for the old-fasioned 3-point play with 8:45 remaining, but Humboldt would fail to get any closer, as the Seawolves closed the last 8:30 of the game by outscoring Humboldt 22-11 to secure the 73-57 victory. 

NOTABLE STATS
-Brandon Porter scored a career high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the 'Jacks in both statistical categories. The redshirt junior from Virginia Beach went 7-13 from the field and 1-3 from beyond-the-arc.
-Kareem Clark also had a career high 10 points to finish as the only other Lumberjack to score in double digits. He also added two rebounds and a steal.
-Cam Timmons scored eight points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked one shot.
-As a team, the 'Jacks struggled offensively, especially in the second half, shooting only 35 percent from the field for the game and 32 percent in the second half. Most notably, the 'Jacks shot only 15 percent from 3-point land, going 3-13 in the first half and only 1-13 in the second half. The team's shooting woes also extended to the freethrow line, where Humboldt shot 64 percent.

UP NEXT
The 'Jacks conclude the season with a final overall record of 13-16 and earned their first postseason appearance since 2019. It was also the first tournament appearance for head coach Tae Norwood since he took over the program in 2020. Sonoma State improves to 13-17 and continues to the semifinals to face No. 1 seed Cal State San Bernardino on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Fitzpatrick Arena.
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