Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics

If Friday’s CCAA tournament loss proves to the end of the road for this year’s Cal Poly Humboldt men’s basketball team, the Jacks will go into the offseason with plenty of reason for optimism for the future.

In his second year in charge of the program, head coach Chris Tifft made some big strides with the Jacks this winter.

After a disappointing start to conference play that saw them lose four of their opening five games, the Humboldt men caught fire in mid January on the way to their most impressive campaign in some time.

They would finish fourth in the CCAA and opened the postseason tournament with a 70-52 win over Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday, their first playoff win in nine years.

Their impressive run came to end in Friday’s semifinal when they fell to top seed and the No. 18 team in the nation, Cal State Dominguez Hills, 93-82.

But with a young roster and most of their top players either freshmen or sophomores, the future appears bright for this group, providing the players stay and remain committed to what Tifft and assistant coach Brandon Billups are building.

And after what the coaches have shown they can achieve this year, the players should stay, because for the first time in several years Cal Poly Humboldt basketball is relevant again.

Friday’s loss many not be the end of the road for this year’s Jacks and they retain an outside shot at making this year’s NCAA West Region tournament, with the brackets set to be announced on Sunday.

Aidan Fowler led the way offensively against the Toros and scored a team-high 24 points, while teammate Josiah Sanders added 23 points and Rob Diaz III finished with 13 points.

Kyle Frelow also impressed and had a team-high eight rebounds and five points, while Mason Marsai added 10 points and six rebounds.

Kalib LaCount also had seven points.

The Jacks dropped to 18-11 and Dominguez Hills improved to 24-5.

The Toros will play Chico State in the tournament final on Saturday.