Final: Cal State S.B. 82, Humboldt State 73
Cal State San Bernardino regains sole possession of the lead atop the CCAA basketball standings at 8-2 (15-3 overall), with defending conference champ Humboldt (12-5) a game behind. Cal State entered the game 18th ranked in the nation, and Humboldt was 17.
Senior 6-9 center Michael Earl scored 17 to lead Cal State. Lance Ortiz had 14, Dave Reichel had 11 and Devon Davis had 10 off the bench, which was key because he played significant minutes in the first half when Earl was out with foul trouble.
Cal State trailed at half and appeared to be be just hanging on ... but turned it up in the second.
Great atmosphere. Crowd was nearly 2,600, and it was noisy. Two pep bands, lots of Cal State students, which doesn't always happen.
And it was quality basketball. Not USC and UCLA, but you can see it from here. Some guys who play above the rim (Cal State had four dunks, three by Earl and one massive, violent two-handed breakaway jam by Jason Gilzene). Some very nice shooters. Very high energy basketball between well-coached, well-disciplined team.
It's a pleasure to watch guys play as hard as they do in this conference.
I am reminded of something a journalist from another Inland Empire newspaper said, a year or two ago, when he covered a Cal State game in Coussoulis for the first time, and was impressed by what he saw. The guy asked, "How come there aren't more people here?"
He thought that anyone who saw a game here MUST want to come back, and the word should have gotten around ... But no. Too many games on TV, maybe? Too far to drive? It's weird, because this is great fun.
I firmly believe Coyotes basketball is one of the great sports entertainment values in the Inland Empire. Great venue, high caliber basketball, a home team that has been winning about 80 percent of its games for a decade now.
Cal State was helped by the return of Earl for most of the second half. He neutralized Humboldt's big man, Cy Vandermeer, and scored almost at will.
Mostly, it was a victory for Cal State's depth. Coach Jeff Oliver used 11 guys, and eight of them scored. In the second half, Humboldt seemed to be running on fumes, and Oliver made it tougher on the visitors by springing the zone press on them for minutes at a time.