Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – CR’s Drew Gillette

By Ray Hamill — The Corsairs found a different way to win on Saturday.

After suffering their first loss on the basketball court in 10 weeks at Shasta last weekend, the College of the Redwoods men quickly rediscovered the winning habit with a 75-58 victory over visiting Lassen in front of another packed house.

It was the team’s lowest points total since mid-November, and the fewest points they’ve allowed in a game since mid-November.

And it was refreshing to see after last week’s disappointing defensive performance at Shasta.

“We definitely had a defensive tilt to our practices this week,” CR head coach Ryan Bisio said. “And I thought we really responded at that end of the floor.”

Thomas Nelson

The win lifts the Corsairs to 5-1 in the Golden Valley Conference and keeps them one win clear of Shasta (4-2) at the top of the standings, with Butte and Feather River both 3-3 and in the mix as well.

The CR men, who are now 18-4 overall, came out ready to play.

“I thought our effort plays were what impressed me the most,” Bisio said. “Deflections, offensive rebounds, I thought we had a lot of good effort plays.”

Thomas Nelson and Drew Gillette were again outstanding for the home team, as they have been all season long.

Nelson had a team-high 24 points, while Gillette finished with 21, including four of the Corsairs’ 12 3-pointers.

CR’s AJ Stubbs

Redwoods led 42-29 at halftime, and despite not shooting particularly well they never appeared in any real danger of losing this one, outscoring the visitors in both halves.

Isaac Puzz chipped in 11 points, including three 3-pointers, two of them early as he came out on fire before getting in foul trouble.

Zac Claus finished with 10 points and Donald Willis five.

Blake Rossman

“Although we didn’t shoot the ball as well we would like, we came out and competed,” Bisio said. “And I’m proud of them.”

The CR men travel to play at Siskiyous (Thursday) and Butte (Saturday), before returning to host Feather River and Shasta the following weekend in their regular-season finales.