ARCATA, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay men's basketball team fell short in its attempt to capture a road victory on Thursday night, falling to Humboldt State by a score of 87-80 in front of a crowd of nearly 1,000 at Lumberjack Arena.
The Pioneers (4-11, 2-7 CCAA) lost despite posting one of their best shooting performances of the season. They finished at 50 percent for the game (30-for-60) after shooting 62 percent in a second half in which they outscored the Jacks 49-43. It wasn't enough to erase a 13-point halftime deficit, however, as the home team improved to 10-5 for the season.
"Humboldt State has proven to be one of the best environments and toughest places to win in all of Division II," said head coach
Gus Argenal. "Coach Kinder and his team were ready to go from the tip and executed throughout the game. I'm proud of how our team battled until the end, we were just a few plays away."
After struggling from behind the arc for the past few games, East Bay caught fire from long range on this night. They went 11-for-18 as a team, good for a season-best 61 percent. They also worked hard in the paint and narrowly out-rebounded HSU, 33 to 29.
Leading the way was senior
Nick Grieves, who had his best game of the season, going 7-for-10 on three-pointers. He led all scorers with 21 points in just 22 minutes before leaving the game with an injury. The Aptos native was just one triple shy of matching his own single-game program record of eight, which he set last season at Sonoma State.
The Pioneers never actually led in this game, but they kept it close the entire way, refusing to let the Jacks pull away. After trading a few baskets early, HSU opened up an 11-point lead midway through the first half. East Bay rallied back, cutting the lead to three with three minutes left in the half after back-to-back long balls by Grieves. But the Jacks answered right back with a 10-0 run to close out the half.
That proved to be enough of a cushion to sustain the Pioneers' attempts at a second-half comeback. Humboldt stretched its lead out to 18 at one point, but CSUEB countered with an 18-6 run to make the score 60-54, capped off by
Juawnn Springfield scoring five points in a span of 30 seconds. However, the Jacks, who entered the game as the CCAA's highest scoring team, once again made the clutch baskets they needed to increase their lead to double digits. The Pioneers fought until the end, but couldn't get closer than six points.
Springfield finished with 12 points and three assists, reaching double figures in scoring for the second straight game and the seventh time this season.
Former Jack
Cody Kale had a strong performance against his old squad, scoring 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting. The Rocklin native also grabbed five rebounds. Fellow senior
Jacari Whitfield notched nine points and dished out a team-best five assists.
Jack Pasquini added nine points and led the Pioneers in both rebounds (nine) and minutes (39) for the night.
Patrick Marr scored six points on an efficient 3-for-4 from the field to go with three rebounds in his fourth straight start.
Kyle Frakes made his presence felt down low, scoring nine points (4-for-7 FG) and pulling in three offensive rebounds. Fellow big man
Darrick McIntosh was active on the glass, grabbing four boards in just five minutes off the bench.
Cal State East Bay has tomorrow off as the team travels back to the Bay Area before flying south for a Saturday night showdown at Cal State San Bernardino. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
