ARCATA — Corey Caston knocked down a 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining, holding off a hard-charging Humboldt State squad and sending Cal State San Bernardino to a 64-55 victory and the men's title game of the CCAA Championships on Friday.
Caston's step-back shot extended the Coyotes' lead to five points, and CSUSB hit its free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory. Cal State San Bernardino improved to 21-7 overall while Humboldt State dropped to 22-7, and will wait to find out Monday if its season will continue in the NCAA West Region Championships.
Cal Poly Pomona, a 80-77 winner over Chico State in the other semifinal Friday, will take on Cal State San Bernardino for the title Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Lumberjack Arena.
Caston paced his team with 20 points while teammates Bryan LeDuc and Devon Davis each contributed 10. Brina Morris led Humboldt State with 16 points, Kevin Atkins added 12, and Zac Tiedeman had 10 points with 10 assists for the Jacks.
Cal State San Bernardino pulled ahead by eight points early in the second half, but the Jacks battled back to take the lead on Tiedeman's jumper with 8 minutes, 9 seconds remaining. Caston answered with a jumper to put his team back on top, and hit a free throw and 3-pointer to push the lead back to five with 7:23 to play.
Humboldt pulled within two points when Atkins drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 47 seconds remaining, but Caston quickly answered.
Tough defense on both ends of the court kept the shooting percentages low in the early going, and Humboldt State fared worse, making only 29 percent of its chances in the opening half. The CCAA's top 3-point shooting team hit only four of 16 first half chances from beyond the arc.
"They did a good job of denying the post, and we had trouble getting Brian (Morris) free," HSU head coach Tom Wood said. "We had some good looks on 3-pointers, but we hurried them because they have those athletes coming at you."
CSU San Bernardino vs Humboldt State
3/5/10 8 pm at Arcata, Calif.
At Arcata, Calif.
CSU SAN BERNARDINO 64, HUMBOLDT STATE 55
CSU SAN BERNARDINO (21-7)
CASTON, Corey 7-16 3-5 20; LeDUC, Bryan 5-8 0-0 10; DAVIS, Devon 5-8 0-0 10;
HILL, Aaron 1-2 4-4 7; TYSON, Lawrence 1-6 2-2 5; JEFFERSON, David 1-2 3-4
5; GASTON, Steven 2-4 0-0 5; WILLIAMS, Greg 1-5 0-3 2; KINNEY, Ryan 0-0 0-0
0; HUFF, Grants 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 12-18 64.
HUMBOLDT STATE (22-7)
MORRIS, Brian 6-9 4-6 16; ATKINS, Kevin 4-12 1-3 12; TIEDEMAN, Zac 2-7 5-6
10; SPADA, Ernie 3-10 0-0 8; BABCOCK-KRENK, Ellio 0-2 4-5 4; PETTY, Will 1-1
0-0 3; BAXTER, Kyle 1-3 0-2 2; KEHRIG, Mike 0-1 0-0 0; HOWARD, David 0-1 0-0
0; BROOME, David 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-46 14-22 55.
CSU San Bernardino............ 28 36 - 64
Humboldt State................ 23 32 - 55
3-point goals--CSU San Bernardino 6-20 (CASTON, Corey 3-8; GASTON, Steven
1-3; HILL, Aaron 1-1; TYSON, Lawrence 1-4; DAVIS, Devon 0-1; LeDUC, Bryan
0-3), Humboldt State 7-27 (ATKINS, Kevin 3-6; SPADA, Ernie 2-9; TIEDEMAN,
Zac 1-6; PETTY, Will 1-1; HOWARD, David 0-1; BAXTER, Kyle 0-1;
BABCOCK-KRENK, Ellio 0-1; MORRIS, Brian 0-2). Fouled out--CSU San
Bernardino-None, Humboldt State-None. Rebounds--CSU San Bernardino 34
(LeDUC, Bryan 9), Humboldt State 33 (MORRIS, Brian 6). Assists--CSU San
Bernardino 12 (HILL, Aaron 6), Humboldt State 13 (TIEDEMAN, Zac 10). Total
fouls--CSU San Bernardino 18, Humboldt State 17. Technical fouls--CSU San
Bernardino-None, Humboldt State-None. A-1630