JACKS WIN CCAA TOURNAMENT TITLE; EARN AUTOMATIC BERTH TO NCAA TOURNAMENT - Mar 6, 2016

Humboldt State men's basketball toppled No. 23 UC San Diego, 80-68, Saturday night in Stockton Arena to claim its first California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament championship. The victory marks the program's first conference tournament title since the 2011-12 season.
Rakim Brown (6'6''-SF) was tabbed the CCAA Tournament MVP after scoring a team-high 25 points for the Green and Gold on 8-of-13 shooting. The Fresno, Calif., native sank a pair of 3-pointers and went 7-of-11 at the free-throw line. Brown also finished with a team-leading nine rebounds. His teammates Thomas Witzel (6'8''-F) and Malik Morgan (6'0''-PG), as well as UC San Diego's Adam Klie (6'4''-G-95) and Chris Hansen (6'7''-C-96) were named.
Saturday's win clinches an NCAA Tournament spot for the Green and Gold, but the team will have to wait for Sunday's selection show to reveal its seed in the field. The show will air at 7:30 p.m. PT at ncaa.com/liveschedule.
The Jacks led from wire-to-wire in the championship game, despite a late rally by the Tritons. HSU shot 66.7 percent from the field in the opening half to open up a 12-point halftime lead.
Morgan ended the first half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put the Green and Gold ahead 39-27. Morgan ended the game with 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting. The sophomore also led the Jacks with five assists.
HSU led by as many as 18 points in the second half, despite shooting just 50 percent from the field.
Foul trouble allowed UC San Diego to get back in the mix late, but the Tritons were never able to cut the lead to less than nine points.

Courtesy of GoCCAA

CCAA Tournament Final: Humboldt State - UC San Diego 80-68
CCAA Tournament Semifinals:
Humboldt State - Cal State LA 79-54
UC San Diego - Cal Poly Pomona 72-65