 "Photo: Preston Drake-Hillyard")
 "Photo: Preston Drake-Hillyard")
 "Photo: Preston Drake-Hillyard")
The Jacks concluded Saturday’s basketball game with a 76-58 victory over the Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros. Last season the Toros finished in a three-way tie as the regular-season champions of the CCAA but on Saturday night they had no answer for the Jacks.
After a 1-2 start in non-league, the Jacks appeared to be struggling to find their rhythm as a team. But this weekend the team played with determination and a sense of urgency to win.
“It was the losses more than anything that woke us up,” said senior starting point guard Zac Tiedeman. “We haven’t been playing up to our potential so those two losses kicked us in the butt a bit to get us going.”
Five players scored in double digits to lead Humboldt State over the Toros. Sophomore Keith David started in place of injured center Brian Morris and led the team in scoring with 13 points while also pulling in a team-high seven rebounds.
After red-shirting last season, Morris came off the bench to play in his first game at home as a Lumberjack. Morris is nursing a knee injury and didn’t play at all on Thursday. He was so excited to be on the court in front of the home crowd that he committed two offensive fouls immediately after entering the game.
“I was too aggressive, too anxious to score,” said Morris. “It was my first time playing here and the crowd had me hyped.” Morris eventually calmed down and contributed 11 points in only 11 minutes on the court. Kyle Baxter, Tiedeman, and Kevin Atkins also scored in double figures, netting ten points apiece.
The game started with Cal Stat Dominguez Hills grabbing a quick 4-0. It would also be the only lead they would hold all night as the Jacks responded promptly with a 13-0 run and never looked back. The Jacks increased their lead to 39-23 by halftime and held on to an easy victory in front of a boisterous crowd at the Lumberjack Arena.
Throughout the game HSU showed an uncanny sense of discipline and ball control. The Jacks committed only six turnovers in the entire game including only one in the second half. The Jacks also managed to come down with a staggering 17 offensive rebounds compared to only six that the Toros grabbed. The lack of turnovers and second chance points proved to be the deciding factors in the win.
It was Humboldt State’s second victory in three days. Their first came against Cal State Los Angeles 77-60 on Thursday night. The two victories this weekend give the Jacks a 2-0 start in league play and improves their overall record to 3-2. “It was really important for us to come out and win these first two games at home,” said Tiedeman. “This league is really tough and you can’t take any games off. But also we needed to prove to ourselves that we’re the team we want to be.”
Potentially the Jacks have all of the pieces in place for a great 2009-2010 campaign. They have veteran leadership, talented new players and good team depth. All that combined with an inspiring team play this past weekend and this could be a championship season for the Humboldt State men’s basketball team. “I’m really happy with how far we’ve come in a week,” said Head Coach Tom Wood. “We got to keep it going and keep improving because everyone else is. We can’t rest on our laurels at all and we’re not going to.”
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