Men’s basketball leads early but drops second in a row at home
Humboldt State’s men’s basketball home game on Feb. 8 was a challenging one for the team as they took a loss, 72-94, against California State University, San Bernardino.
The Jacks ended the night with a loss and an 8-15 record, but a few highlights kept the fans engaged.
In the first half, Jackson Strong made back-to-back three-pointers, while Zachariah Christian gave the Jacks an early 6-0 lead. The Coyotes caught up, bringing the score to 19-11 in the next nine minutes to take a 19-17 lead on a lay-up by Jordan Mitchell.
#0 Leland Green drives into the paint. | Photo by Liam Warner #3 Isaiah Pope goes up for the basket. | Photo by Liam Warner
The Coyotes increased their lead to 24-17 with eight minutes left in the first half. Rob Lewis cut the Coyotes lead to 37-30 with four straight points. Coyote player Richard Laku hit a three, which left the score at 40-30 right before halftime. In the second half, the Coyotes led and eventually outscored the Jacks by 22 points, taking the win.
The Jacks had several players with double-digit points. Christian scored 18 points, while Isaiah Pope put up 16. Amari Green had 12 and Lewis scored 10. The Coyotes had 43 rebounds and the Jacks had 34.
Head coach Steve Kinder said it was a hard game, but he was happy with the good start to the game.
“What stood out to me the most was how good Cal State San Bernardino is,” Kinder said. “We just played a very good basketball team. We’re their 19th win—their last victim. They’re a very good basketball team and we competed with them well at the beginning of the game. I thought we did a nice job staying pace with them.”