ARCATA — Zac Tiedeman began his California Collegiate Athletic Association career like a veteran Wednesday, scoring 25 points and hitting key shots down the stretch to help Humboldt State claim a 80-78 win over Sonoma State in the league-opener.
Tiedeman, who transferred in from Santa Clara in the fall, scored 13 of the Jacks' final 15 points to help the Jacks improve to 7-2 overall with their seventh straight win. Sonoma State fell to 3-2 despite charging back from a late 10-point deficit to keep the game interesting.
Also scoring in double figures for Humboldt State was freshman Elliot Babcock-Krenk with 18 points. Mike Kehrig had nine, Ernie Spada scored eight points, and Kevin Atkins finished with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
"Zac was the key guy out there at the end, obviously," HSU head coach Tom Wood said. "Elliot and Ernie also hit big shots, and Mike Kehrig gave us some good minutes. Thank goodness for our guards."
James Sandoval led the Seawolves with 18 points, with Ben Washington and Keith Garner both contributing 13. Steven Pratt and Casey McRoberts each added nine points to SSU's balanced effort.
Following a tight first half that saw the score tied 31-31 at the break, the Jacks' quartet of guards helped HSU pull out to an eight-point advantage in the early part of the second period. But Sonoma State stormed back, pulling within four points several times behind Garner, who came off the bench for the Seawolves.
"The first half tempo was obviously in their favor, with the score as low as it was," Tiedeman said. "We got it going in the second half, and that plays to our advantage."
Humboldt State eventually gained a 10-point lead on Tiedeman's three-pointer with 2 minutes, 45 seconds remaining. The Jacks still held a seven-point advantage with 44 seconds left, but Gerred Link and McRoberts nailed back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to 77-75 with 21 seconds left.
Babcock-Krenk, Tiedeman and Kehrig hit free throws in the final seconds to hold off SSU before Washington's three-pointer went in at the buzzer for the final outcome.
"You sure didn't see (Sonoma State) quit," Wood said. "They played with a lot of courage, but so did our young Lumberjacks."
Humboldt State heads out of town Thursday, traveling to La Jolla for Friday's 7:30 p.m. league game against UC San Diego.
At Arcata, Calif.
HUMBOLDT STATE 80, SONOMA STATE 78
SONOMA STATE (3-2)
SANDOVAL, James 6-10 6-8 18; WASHINGTON, Ben 5-10 2-3 13; GARNER, Keith 5-8
3-4 13; McROBERTS, Casey 4-8 0-0 9; PRATT, Steven 3-6 0-0 9; SHANDERA, Kyle
3-7 0-0 6; LINK, Gerred 1-5 0-0 3; NELSON, Mike 1-5 0-0 3; HARRISON, Curtis
1-2 0-1 2; CHAMBERS, Chad 1-2 0-0 2; WRIGHT, Duane 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-63
11-16 78.
HUMBOLDT STATE (7-2)
TIEDEMAN, Zac 6-9 9-10 25; BABCOCK-KRENK, E. 7-14 2-4 18; KEHRIG, Mike 3-4
2-4 9; ATKINS, Kevin 3-6 2-2 8; SPADA, Ernie 3-5 0-0 8; MATHEWS, Colt 2-5
0-0 4; HOWARD, David 2-5 0-0 4; FIGGATT, Jameson 1-4 0-0 2; PETTY, Will 1-3
0-1 2; BAXTER, Kyle 0-2 0-0 0; NEWMAN, Owen 0-4 0-2 0. Totals 28-61 15-23
80.
Sonoma State.................. 31 47 - 78
Humboldt State................ 31 49 - 80
3-point goals--Sonoma State 7-22 (PRATT, Steven 3-5; McROBERTS, Casey 1-5;
LINK, Gerred 1-5; WASHINGTON, Ben 1-3; NELSON, Mike 1-3; GARNER, Keith 0-1),
Humboldt State 9-16 (TIEDEMAN, Zac 4-6; BABCOCK-KRENK, E. 2-4; SPADA, Ernie
2-3; KEHRIG, Mike 1-1; HOWARD, David 0-1; MATHEWS, Colt 0-1). Fouled
out--Sonoma State-NELSON, Mike, Humboldt State-None. Rebounds--Sonoma State
35 (GARNER, Keith 9), Humboldt State 39 (ATKINS, Kevin 8). Assists--Sonoma
State 17 (WASHINGTON, Ben 4), Humboldt State 11 (PETTY, Will 2; TIEDEMAN,
Zac 2; BABCOCK-KRENK, E. 2; BAXTER, Kyle 2; SPADA, Ernie 2). Total
fouls--Sonoma State 21, Humboldt State 14. Technical fouls--Sonoma
State-None, Humboldt State-None. A-1241