SEASIDE, Calif. -- Cal Poly Humboldt returns to the win column on the final leg of a four-game road trip after edging out a 68-63 win from The Kelp Bed against Cal State Monterey Bay. In the final road game of the regular season,
Emilia Long led the team with 22 points on 77 percent shooting, seven rebounds, six assists and a steal.
Sara Ahmadpour had 18 points on 71.4 percent shooting from three-point range and
Madison Rubino added 19 points of her own. The 'Jacks shot 51.9 percent from the field as a team, which was a season-best.
A strong defensive start to the game saw the 'Jacks jump out in front early on, after holding the Otters to just seven points in the first quarter of play. Humboldt led 19-7 to start the second quarter. Despite shooting 53 percent in the first quarter, the Lumberjacks shot just 30 percent in the second quarter and Monterey Bay outscored Humboldt 21-10 in the next 10 minutes of play. At the half, the 'Jacks held a one-point lead over the Otters, 29-28.
Cal Poly Humboldt had a blazing hot start to the second half, as they shot nearly 85 percent from the field and went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc to outscore Monterey Bay 26-15 in the third quarter and hold a 55-43 lead. The Otters went on an 13-2 run in the fourth quarter to make it a one possession game with 18 seconds to go. With Monterey Bay forced to foul, the 'Jacks took advantage of free-throws and held on for the win after extending their lead to five points, 68-63.
Humboldt anchors themselves in a very tight playoff race with Saturday's win at Monterey Bay. The 'Jacks currently sit at 9-10 in CCAA play and are tied for seventh place in the standings with Sonoma State and Stanislaus State. Teams currently ranked fifth to ninth place are all tied or within one game of each other, making these next three home games very important for the Lumberjacks if they want to finish the season in the top six and playing for a CCAA title.
Notable Stats
- Humboldt shot a season-best 51.9 percent as a team
- As a team, Humboldt had 23 assists and 28 made field goals, both of which were season-highs
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Emilia Long led with 22 points, seven rebounds, and six assists
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Sara Ahmadpour went 5-for-7 from deep and tallied 18 points
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Madison Rubino had a new Humboldt career-high of 19 points
- Humboldt had more points off turnovers (11-10) and points in the paint (38-30), while Monterey Bay had more second chance points and bench points
Records
Cal Poly Humboldt (11-12, 9-10 CCAA)
Cal State Monterey Bay (4-20, 2-17 CCAA)
Up Next
Cal Poly Humboldt returns home for three straight games and will aim to make a push for the playoffs beginning next Thursday versus Cal State Los Angeles (14-10, 11-8 CCAA). Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM in Lumberjack Arena.
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