ARCATA — (Jan. 4) Devin Peal scored 19 points to pace five Humboldt State players scoring in double figures, as the Lumberjacks pulled away to a 90-76 win over UC San Diego in California Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball action Thursday.

Recording their fifth home win in five tries, the Lumberjacks improved to 8-2 overall while nudging their CCAA record up to 3-2. UC San Diego fell to 3-6 and 1-3 in league games.

Hot shooting kept the Jacks on track in the first half and they crashed the boards effectively throughout the game, finishing with a 35-27 rebounding edge. After lighting up the nets at nearly a 70 percent rate by halftime, the Jacks settled for an impressive 58 percent shooting effort overall.

"The percentages go up when we stay inside around the basket," HSU head coach Tom Wood said. "We were trying to be patient on both offense and defense, and that paid off for us."

Finding the range from inside and out was HSU's Grayson Moyer, who was 5-of-6 from the field with two three-pointers for 18 points. Kevin Johnson worked his way around the rim for 16 points, while both Will Sheufelt and Jeremiah Ward added 13 points for the Lumberjacks.

UC San Diego kept the game close throughout the first half behind Henry Patterson and Clint Allard, who finished with 15 and 13 points, respectively. The Tritons' last lead came when Allard drained a three-pointer with five minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the first half to put his team ahead, 31-30.

Cy Vandermeer and Peal countered for the Jacks inside in the final minutes of the half, and Ward hit a jumper at the buzzer that gave HSU a 47-42 lead at the break. In the second half, the Jacks eased away to a double-digits lead, moving ahead by as many as 17 points on three different occasions.

"Each night out in this league we seem to face a different unconventional defense," Wood said. "We've done a good job of preparing for that, and finding ways to cope with it."

Humboldt State's next CCAA challenge comes Saturday when the Lumberjacks host CSU Dominguez HIlls at 7:30 p.m. in the East Gym.

UC San Diego vs Humboldt State
1/4/07 7:30 p.m. at Arcata, Calif.
HUMBOLDT STATE 90, UC SAN DIEGO 76
UC SAN DIEGO (3-6, 1-3)
PATTERSON, Henry 7-9 1-2 15; ALLARD, Clint 4-11 3-4 13; PETERS, Robby 4-8 0-0 11; LAWLEY, Jordan 3-7 4-4 10; POPPEN, Shane 1-9 7-7 9; LAWLOR, Darryl 4-8 0-1 8; KIM, Kelvin 2-3 1-2 6; STUCKEY, Brett 2-2 0-0 4; HUSTED, Alan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-57 16-20 76.
HUMBOLDT STATE (8-2, 3-2)
PEAL, Devin 6-9 7-8 19; MOYER, Grayson 5-6 6-7 18; JOHNSON, Kevin 5-8 5-8 16; SHEUFELT, Will 5-9 2-2 13; WARD, Jeremiah 6-10 1-2 13; VANDERMEER, Cy 2-3 3-4 7; DEL RIO, Efren 1-3 0-0 2; BURNS, Tyler 1-3 0-1 2; CORRAL, Carlos 0-0 0-0 0; FLAGGS, Antonio 0-2 0-0 0; KEHRIG, Michael 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-53 24-32 90.
UC San Diego..................   42   34  -   76
Humboldt State................   47   43  -   90
3-point goals-UC San Diego 6-18 (PETERS, Robby 3-5; ALLARD, Clint 2-5; KIM, Kelvin 1-2; LAWLOR, Darryl 0-3; POPPEN, Shane 0-1; LAWLEY, Jordan 0-2),
Humboldt State 4-12 (MOYER, Grayson 2-3; JOHNSON, Kevin 1-1; SHEUFELT, Will 1-3; DEL RIO, Efren 0-2; FLAGGS, Antonio 0-1; WARD, Jeremiah 0-2). Fouled out--UC San Diego-PATTERSON, Henry; STUCKEY, Brett, Humboldt State-None. Rebounds-UC San Diego 27 (POPPEN, Shane 5), Humboldt State 35 (PEAL, Devin 7). Assists-UC San Diego 15 (ALLARD, Clint 5), Humboldt State 19 (WARD, Jeremiah 6). Total fouls-UC San Diego 22, Humboldt State 16. A-1094

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