ARCATA — Humboldt State held off Sonoma State, 72-68, to claim a first-round victory in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships tournament Tuesday.
Humboldt State, the tournament's No. 2 seed, improved to 22-6 with the victory, while Sonoma State, the No. 7 seed, ended its season at 10-17. But the victory didn't come easily for the Lumberjacks, who dodged a bullet when SSU's Sterling Arterberry missed a driving layup that would have tied the game with two seconds remaining.
The Lumberjacks advanced into Friday's semifinal game against CSU San Bernardino, a 92-80 winner over San Francisco State in first-round action Tuesday.
"There was a lot of pressure on us to win this game," HSU head coach Tom Wood said. "We didn't want to be watching other teams playing in our gym Friday. We struggled because we were playing not to lose instead of playing to win."
Brian Morris helped the Jacks move on with a big double-double, scoring 20 points and pulling down a career-high 15 rebounds. Zac Tiedeman, the CCAA regular-season MVP, scored 12 points and contributed a career-best 10 assists. Ernie Spada added 12 points with a 4-of-6 performance from 3-point range.
Sonoma State was paced by Steve Pratt's 20 points, including 3-of-3 effort from 3-point range. Pratt hit all of his 3-pointers in the last 4 minutes of the game, helping the Seawolves claw back from a 12-point deficit.
After Pratt's final 3-pointer, Arterberry picked off an HSU pass and drove for a layup with 42 seconds remaining bring his team within two at 70-68. The Jacks turned the ball over again on a shot clock violation, providing the Seawolves with a chance to tie or forge ahead with eight seconds left.
Prior to Friday's 8 p.m. game between the Jacks and CSUSB Coyotes, No. 1 seed Cal Poly Pomona will face Chico State in the other semifinal at 5:30 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena. Cal Poly Pomona advanced with a 57-45 win over Cal State Los Angeles and Chico State edged Cal State Dominguez Hills, 63-60.
San Francisco State vs Cal State San Bernardino
03/02/10 7 pm at San Bernardino, CA (Coussoulis Arena)
At San Bernardino, CA (Coussoulis Arena)
CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO 92, SAN FRANCISCO STATE 80
SAN FRANCISCO STATE (17-14)
PERDOMO, Nefi 9-18 3-4 22; HOSKINS, Marquel 5-10 5-6 16; PRATT, Tim 6-9 2-2
15; O'ROURKE, Phoenix 3-5 2-3 10; FRANCIS, Jeremy 2-3 2-2 8; FLETCHER, Derek
3-5 0-0 6; LAVELLE, Mike 0-0 3-3 3; NEVAREZ, Ralph 0-0 0-0 0; HASH, Joshua
0-0 0-0 0; TRAMMEL, Daniel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-50 17-20 80.
CAL STATE SAN BERNARDINO (20-7)
CASTON, Corey 4-12 7-8 17; TYSON, Lawrence 6-7 2-2 17; HILL, Aaron 1-4 13-16
16; JEFFERSON, David 6-9 3-4 15; DAVIS, Devon 7-10 1-1 15; GASTON, Steven
3-6 1-1 7; LeDUC, Bryan 2-3 1-2 5; KINNEY, Ryan 0-1 0-0 0; WILLIAMS, Greg
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-52 28-34 92.
San Francisco State........... 31 49 - 80
Cal State San Bernardino...... 39 53 - 92
3-point goals--San Francisco State 7-15 (FRANCIS, Jeremy 2-2; O'ROURKE,
Phoenix 2-4; PERDOMO, Nefi 1-5; HOSKINS, Marquel 1-3; PRATT, Tim 1-1), Cal
State San Bernardino 6-17 (TYSON, Lawrence 3-3; CASTON, Corey 2-6; HILL,
Aaron 1-4; GASTON, Steven 0-3; KINNEY, Ryan 0-1). Fouled out--San Francisco
State-None, Cal State San Bernardino-None. Rebounds--San Francisco State 26
(HOSKINS, Marquel 7), Cal State San Bernardino 25 (JEFFERSON, David 8).
Assists--San Francisco State 13 (HOSKINS, Marquel 6), Cal State San
Bernardino 18 (CASTON, Corey 7). Total fouls--San Francisco State 24, Cal
State San Bernardino 17. Technical fouls--San Francisco State-None, Cal
State San Bernardino-None. A-230