Feb. 7, 2004

Box Score

ARCATA, Calif. - Western Washington University made a furious second-half rally but still fell short against nationally ranked Humboldt State University, as the Lumberjacks claimed a 97-82 victory in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game Saturday at East Gymnasium.

The Vikings, No.7 in this week's NCAA Division II West Region rankings, fell to 13-7 overall, 7-4 in the GNAC. Western, which trailed by as much as 27 in the second half before pulling to within five in the last three minutes, were led by the 22 points and seven rebounds of guard Ryan Diggs (So., Victorville, CA/Silverado). Diggs had 20 points and all of his rebounds in the second half.

Humboldt State, ranked No.4 in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches/NCAA Division II Top 25 and No.3 regionally, improved to 19-3 overall and lead the GNAC at 10-1. All-American forwards Fred Hooks and Austin Nichols each had 29 points, and Hooks also had a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Vikings trailed by 27, 55-28, early in the second half, and were down by 25, 71-46, with 11 minutes left, before going on a 15-2 run, with Diggs scoring eight of the points, to close the gap to 12, 73-61, with 7:29 left.

Western later made another charge, outscoring Humboldt State 10-1 in less than two minutes to pull within five, 83-78, with 2:18 to go. But the Vikings could get no closer as the Lumberjacks went 10-of-10 on free throws in the final 78 seconds, six of them by guard Mark White.

Forward Craig Roosendaal (Jr., Shoreline/King's) had 15 points for Western, all on 3-point shots. Reserve guard Kyle Jackson (So., Bellingham/Sehome) and center Lukas Henne (Fr., Bremerton/Central Kitsap), each had 13 points. Henne was making his first career start in place of Rod Picou (Jr., Oakland, CA/Castlemont), who was sitting a one-game suspension for disciplinary reasons.

"We fought extremely hard and battled like crazy," said Western coach Brad Jackson, who remains one win short of 350 in his career. "I'm really proud of our guys." The Vikings led by four, 15-11, with a little over 13 minutes left in the first half, but the Lumberjacks went on a 24-2 run to grab a 35-17 lead with 3:15 left in the period. Humboldt State held a 46-23 lead at halftime as Western shot just 28.1 percent (9-of-32) from the field in the first half.

For the game, the Lumberjacks shot 54.0 percent (27-of-50) from the floor to 39.2 percent (29-of-74) for the Vikings, and had a 43-32 edge in rebounds. Western did commit just nine turnovers.

Western guard Jason Burrell (Sr., Ontario, CA) became the 18th player in school history to score 1,000 career points when he made a layin with 1:10 left in the first half. He finished the game with six points, giving him 1,004 for his career. He also had three assists, giving him 328 for his career, which ranks 10th in school history.

Western hosts Seattle University on Thursday (7 p.m.) in a GNAC counter.