San Rafael, CALIF. – Dominican University of California (2-2) late comeback bid fell narrowly short as Cal Poly Humboldt (1-2) left the floor with an 82-79 victory despite leading by nearly 20 for much of the second half.
Freshman Jaayden Bush notched the first Penguin point of the afternoon from the foul line, preceded by a pair of layups courtesy of graduate student Tyler Williams and junior Marcus McCutchen, with McCutchen's bucket coming after he left his defender alone in the paint with a stutter step that cleared the lane. Bush added a pair of points after, but the Lumberjacks held strong as each Dominican basket was matched by an opposing bucket as the score read 10-7 at the first media timeout.
Sophomore Jake Blazona made an immediate impact following his substitution, burying a midrange jumper before forcing his man out of bounds on the defensive end to give possession back to Dominican. Blazona wasn't done as he took a pass from sophomore Jorden Josephs before draining a deep 2-point shot from the left side. Humboldt responded with a long ball, but senior Matt Hallam joined the party with his first bucket of the afternoon to tie the game.
Humboldt got in a grove from beyond the arc, sinking a trio of consecutive 3-pointers to open-up a four-point advantage. McCutchen earned drew a charge to send Dominican back down the floor, eventually leading to a successful Bush free throw. Some rough stuff ensued as a jump ball was called with McCutchen earning the whistle, but a pair of Humboldt players decided they had sole proprietorship of the ball while neither elected to unclamp following the whistle, leading to offsetting fouls.
Hallam snagged an offensive board before dishing it to Josephs at the top of the key, immediately sending it to Bush who found a wide-open PJ Volz in the corner who finished the play with a 3-pointer. Volz put two more points under his name in the score column with a pair of successful charity shots that cut the Humboldt lead to 25-23 with 4:15 remaining in the half, then forcing a travel on the ensuing Lumberjack possession.
Volz hit a jumper from the top of the key before a pair of successful Bush free throws knotted the game at 27 aside, but Humboldt answered back with another long ball that kickstarted a 12-0 run that lead to a 39-27 lead by the visitors at the half.
McCutchen earned a pair of layups to put Dominican back on the board, but the Lumberjacks' attack continued as they eventually went up 18 behind 47% shooting up until this point. McCutchen earned an and-1 minutes later with the score reading 55-40, but another Humboldt 3-pointer put the opposing side back ahead by 18. Another McCutchen and-1 cut the deficit to 13.
The Lumberjacks began corralling a plethora of offensive rebounds, earning a +7 margin in the category with 13 minutes to play. The floor continued to tilt in Humboldt's favor as they regained another hefty lead with the score reading 64-45 near the halfway point of the second half.
A pair of baskets by Josephs and McCutchen following a media timeout preceded a charge call that was drawn by McCutchen, later leading to a Garrett Siebels long ball that brought the score to 64-52. More offensive rebounds led to more Lumberjacks' scores as Dominican continually attempted to gain its footing with Humboldt matching every basket, leading 70-56 with 7:40 remaining.
Siebels took a Bush pass to the basket following the timeout with Williams later converting on an easy layup following a McCutchen full court lob that brought Dominican within 10. Humboldt earned a bucket on their ensuing trip down the floor, but Dominican matched it as Bush drained both his foul shots. McCutchen drew another charge call on the ensuing possession, then gathering his own offensive rebound before putting it back to bring Dominican within eight. Bush hit a floated following a media timeout before McCutchen followed out with 3:09 remaining, putting he and his game-high 26 points on the bench with Dominican down nine.
Volz earned a pair of foul shots following two steals by the home side, seeing success on both tries to bring Dominican within five. A Humboldt and-1 was squandered by a rather unnecessary technical foul by the scorer, keeping it a two possession game as Siebels converted both. The extra shot was missed by Humboldt, preceding a Bush streaking finger roll that brought Dominican within a basket. Another 1-for-2 trip from the free throw line gave the visitors a four-point lead before Siebels took a foul from beyond the arc, later putting on a free throw clinic as he went a perfect 3-for-3 to bring Dominican within a single point.
Lockdown defense by Bush put the pressure on Humboldt, but another eventual offensive rebound led to a pair of free throws by the visiting side, both being successful, setting up one final drive by the home side, but time would prove to be the biggest enemy of the comeback as the visitors narrowly squeezed out an 82-79, clouded by a late technical that would have resulted in a player being tossed from the game had time remained.
McCutchen led the way with 26 points, adding nine rebounds and a pair of steals. Volz, Williams, Siebels and Bush all also added double-digit figures in the loss.
