The Jacks men’s basketball team fell just short of a big comeback on Jan. 13 against the Cal State University at San Bernadino Coyotes at Lumberjack Arena. They lost the game 90-79 and fell to 6-12 overall and 3-9 in conference.
Jacks junior guard Romario Wilson had a great night, scoring 24 points on a perfect 13-13 from the free throw line. Wilson and his teammates are working hard to improve everyday and he believes the team has what it takes to go on a run.
“We can hang with the best of them,” Wilson said. It shows that we have the talent and the skill-sets to win big-time games. It’s all on us to go get it. We have 10 games left, and we’ve got to finish off strong so we can make a push to get into this tournament.”
Despite the Jacks subpar record, they still have a chance to win their conference tournament and win an outright bid to the national tourney. Their play against some above average competition suggests they have the ability to make some real noise if they were to win a bid to the big dance.
The Coyotes established a 47-21 lead with 2:58 left in the half and led 49-31 at the break, but the Jacks had a “never say die” attitude and came out strong in the second half. They cut the deficit to just 10 but the Coyotes kept coming, knocking down consecutive 3-pointers.
Jacks head coach Steve Kinder was proud of his team for not giving up and staying in the game until the end.
“Out of halftime I thought our guys responded extremely well,” Kinder said. “They showed some grit, they showed some guts, they showed some toughness and made two really good pushes in the second half. We’re proud of our Lumberjacks, but it just wasn’t enough for the victory.”
Jacks junior guard Kameron Curl had 12 points but struggled from the 3-point-line shooting 2-10. Senior forward Davasyia Hagger added 10 points as did fellow senior, Austin Pomrehn. The Jacks performed at an elite level from the free-throw line, hitting 30-of-33 shots.
The Jacks look to get back on track on Jan. 20 as they travel to face conference rival Chico State. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
