ARCATA — Humboldt State handed No. 7 ranked Seattle University its first loss of the season Saturday, avenging an earlier defeat to the Redhawks with a 70-64 win in the final game of the Lawrence R. DeBeni, Jr. Holiday Classic.

Playing the second half without leading scorer and preseason All-American Devin Peal, who went out with an injured thumb, the Jacks improved to 7-2 with the win. Seattle University, the team that defeated HSU at its own tournament in the season-opener, dropped to 6-1 overall.

"There wasn't anything easy about tonight," HSU head coach Tom Wood said. "That game had a playoff feeling about it. (Seattle U.) is a very good team and they're going to beat a lot of people."

With post Cy Vandermeer already playing with a hip injury sustained Friday, the Jacks were further impacted down low by the loss of Peal, who went down with nearly five minutes left in the first half. Peal had just scored on back-to-back drives, but was unable to return and shoot a free throw after being fouled on the second.

"I"m sure our players were feeling bad about Devin's injury, but they knew there was a half to be played," Wood said. "I'm really proud of how they stepped up."

Tournament MVP Grayson Moyer paced the Jacks for the second straight night, scoring 18 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing a team-high four assists. Will Sheufelt contributed 15 points and five steals, and freshman Ernie Spada, another all-tourney selection, added nine points and two steals.

Seattle was led by all-tournament selections Ryan Coldren, who scored 23 points, and Michael Knight, who added 16.

The score was tied 28-28 at halftime following a tight opening half that featured well-played defense on both ends. HSU had managed to pull ahead by six points on Vandermeer's layup early in the contest, but the Redhawks quickly worked their way back, tying the game on Chris Gweth's layup as the half expired.

Coldren's three-pointer with 17:27 left in the game gave the Redhawks their largest lead, 31-28, but Moyer put the Jacks back in front with a layup a minute later, and Spada hit a three to increase the advantage. HSU held the lead the rest of the way, but couldn't pull away until a pair of Moyer free throws put the Jacks up by 10 points with 29 seconds remaining.

HSU will resume California Collegiate Athletic Conference action when the Lumberjacks travel to face Sonoma State on Jan. 3. The Jack's next home game is against CCAA opponent UC San Diego on Jan. 5.

Chico State 80, Willamette University 66

 Chico State survived a rough start, rallying from a 20-point deficit to claim a 80-66 victory over Willamette University at the Lawrence R. DeBeni, Jr. Holiday Classic on Saturday.

Shane Bradley came off the bench to score 17 points for the Wildcats, and Darroll Phillips contributed 15 to help Chico State improve its record to 4-5.  Mike Smith scored 17 points, Kyler McClary had 14 and Corey Costantino added 11 for the Bearcats, who dropped to 2-7.

The Bearcats scored the first 12 points of the game, and didn't let up after that flurry. After only five minutes had passed they held a 20-2 lead, hitting 83 percent of their shots and all three three-pointers.

Chico State trailed by as many as 20 points before finding its footing. Penetration proved to be the key, Shane Bradley's layup starting a 10-0 run that helped make a game of it before the break.

As the half wound down, the Wildcats also rediscovered their shooting touch from long range. Ryan Smith and Justin Argenal hit three-pointers on consecutive trips downcourt, initiating a Chico State surge that put the Wildcats in front, 42-35 at the break.

The second half proved more consistent, with the Wildcats holding a moderate lead throughout. Willamette pulled within three points early in the half, but couldn't get any closer.

Willamette Univer. vs Chico State
12/22/07 5:30 pm at Arcata, Calif.
At Arcata, Calif.
CHICO STATE 80, WILLAMETTE UNIVER. 66
WILLAMETTE UNIVER. (2-7)
Smith, Mike 6-8 3-4 17; McClary, Kyler 5-11 3-3 14; Costantino, Corey 3-7
2-2 11; Thompson, Ricky 1-4 4-6 6; Mansfield, Ian 2-7 1-2 5; Kunke, Robbie
2-3 0-0 5; Cantrell, Tain 2-4 0-0 4; Mitchell, Cameron 2-5 0-1 4; Currie,
Simon 0-0 0-0 0; Spang, Sean 0-0 0-0 0; Middleton, Dillon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
23-49 13-18 66.
CHICO STATE (4-5)
BRADLEY, Shane 8-9 1-4 17; PHILLIPS, Darroll 5-12 1-2 15; HAWKINS, Rod 3-5
2-2 9; IGBEKOYI, Frank 2-2 3-4 7; ARGENAL, Justin 2-8 0-0 6; SMITH, Ryan 2-3
0-0 6; MARTIN, Mike 2-8 0-0 5; SOTO, Jesse 2-8 0-0 5; JACKSON, Josh 2-4 0-0
5; FERRIN, Andrew 1-2 2-2 5; BAKER, Maurice 0-0 0-0 0; SANTIAGO, Luis 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 29-61 9-14 80.
Willamette Univer.............   35   31  -   66
Chico State...................   42   38  -   80
3-point goals--Willamette Univer. 7-19 (Costantino, Corey 3-4; Smith, Mike
2-3; McClary, Kyler 1-5; Kunke, Robbie 1-2; Mansfield, Ian 0-3; Thompson,
Ricky 0-2), Chico State 13-30 (PHILLIPS, Darroll 4-10; SMITH, Ryan 2-2;
ARGENAL, Justin 2-5; SOTO, Jesse 1-5; MARTIN, Mike 1-4; JACKSON, Josh 1-2;
HAWKINS, Rod 1-1; FERRIN, Andrew 1-1). Fouled out--Willamette Univer.-None,
Chico State-None. Rebounds--Willamette Univer. 32 (Cantrell, Tain 7), Chico
State 31 (FERRIN, Andrew 5; BRADLEY, Shane 5). Assists--Willamette Univer.
11 (Smith, Mike 2; McClary, Kyler 2; Mitchell, Cameron 2; Mansfield, Ian 2;
Kunke, Robbie 2), Chico State 17 (SMITH, Ryan 4). Total fouls--Willamette
Univer. 13, Chico State 21. Technical fouls--Willamette Univer.-None, Chico
State-None. A-329

Newspaper Box Score
Seattle University vs Humboldt State Men
12/22/07 7:30 pm at Arcata, Calif.
At Arcata, Calif.
HUMBOLDT STATE MEN 70, SEATTLE UNIVERSITY 64
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY (6-1)
Coldren,Ryan 9-17 3-4 23; Knight,Michael 5-10 2-2 16; Swanson,Leigh 3-5 2-2
9; Gweth,Chris 2-3 1-2 5; Berry,Ricky 1-5 2-2 5; Wright,Michael 2-2 0-0 4;
Burl,Shaun 1-7 0-0 2; Powers,Austen 0-1 0-0 0; Harris,Drew 0-0 0-0 0;
Boxley,Mike 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 10-12 64.
HUMBOLDT STATE MEN (7-2)
MOYER, Grayson 4-9 8-10 18; SHEUFELT, Will 4-11 6-8 15; SPADA, Ernie 3-4 1-1
9; VANDERMEER, Cy 3-5 2-2 8; GREEN, Nick 3-7 1-5 7; PEAL, Devin 2-3 3-4 7;
FIGGATT, Jameson 2-3 1-2 5; DEL RIO, Efren 0-1 1-1 1. Totals 21-43 23-33 70.
Seattle University............   28   36  -   64
Humboldt State Men............   28   42  -   70
3-point goals--Seattle University 8-23 (Knight,Michael 4-7; Coldren,Ryan
2-6; Swanson,Leigh 1-1; Berry,Ricky 1-4; Boxley,Mike 0-1; Burl,Shaun 0-3;
Gweth,Chris 0-1), Humboldt State Men 5-11 (MOYER, Grayson 2-5; SPADA, Ernie
2-3; SHEUFELT, Will 1-2; DEL RIO, Efren 0-1). Fouled out--Seattle
University-Swanson,Leigh, Humboldt State Men-VANDERMEER, Cy.
Rebounds--Seattle University 30 (Swanson,Leigh 7; Coldren,Ryan 7), Humboldt
State Men 28 (MOYER, Grayson 7). Assists--Seattle University 11 (Burl,Shaun
4), Humboldt State Men 12 (MOYER, Grayson 4). Total fouls--Seattle
University 25, Humboldt State Men 15. Technical fouls--Seattle
University-Wright,Michael, Humboldt State Men-MOYER, Grayson. A-1112
DeBeni Classic Game #4