The win christened the Jacks’ new Lumberjack Arena, improving their record to 2-2 overall. Southern Oregon dropped to 1-2 after its third straight road game. HSU forced the Raiders into 26 turnovers, utilizing its press to create 19 in the first half on the way to a 45-17 lead at the break. The Jacks also lit up the nets throughout, shooting 54 percent from the field.
“We worked hard on defense in practice this week, and our press was able to get them off balance,” HSU head coach Tom Wood said. “Our press set the tone and created scoring opportunities for us.”
Colt Mathews finished with 16 points, Kyle Baxter had 14 and Kevin Atkins added 11 for the Jacks. Leading the way for Southern Oregon were Austin Wolver with 18 points, Trevor McCay with 12, and Eli Thonrton with 11 points.
The Jacks are in action again at Lumberjack Arena on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m. against Simpson University.
Women’s Basketball
After splitting last weekend’s play at the Notre Dame de Namur Tip-Off Classic, the Humboldt State women’s basketball team travels north to participate in the Western Oregon University Tournament in Monmouth, Ore. The Jacks open the weekend with a matchup against Saint Martin’s, Friday, Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. and then conclude tournament play against host WOU, with a 3 p.m. tipoff on Saturday.
The women’s squad sees the return of eight players from last year’s 16-12 team, and was picked to finish third in the same poll. Following the women’s team’s successful 2-1 start, head coach Joddie Gleason is looking forward to continued success.
“Our goal is to make our opponents uncomfortable on offense and we did a good job of that against CSU East Bay,” Gleason. “I think our posts need to make it tougher for our opponents’ post players to score without us fouling.”
Tickets for men’s and women’s basketball games are available at the Ticket Office in the HSU Bookstore. For more information call (707) 826-5959.