SAN FRANCISCO — Humboldt State built a 17-point lead before holding off a resilient San Francisco State squad enroute to a 69-59 California Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball victory Friday.

Humboldt State improved to 4-1 in the CCAA and 9-3 overall, dropping the Gators to 8-4 and 3-2 in league. Humbodt State is back on the court Saturday, taking on CSU Monterey Bay in Seaside in another CCAA encounter.

Senior leadership helped the Jacks prevail over a much-improved Gators' squad, with Grayson Moyer stepping up the most. Moyer finished the night 5-of-6 from the field, scoring a team-high 16 points, grabbing six rebounds, dishing seven assists and coming away with two steals.

Also in double figures for the Jacks were Devin Peal with 14 points and Will Sheufelt with 13. Cy Vandermeer contributed six points and a team-high eight rebounds.

San Francisco State was led in scoring by Robert Hayes' 13 points and 12 from Chris Rodriguez. Alex Thomas and Martin Flores had 10 each for the Gators.

From the opening tip, Friday's game looked like a grind, both teams working hard for their points. Hobbling on an injured ankle, Vandermeer nonetheless scored the Jacks' first four points of the game to help them claim the lead.

San Francisco State held tight, gaining a 12-11 lead on Rodriguez' putback. Humboldt State forged a four-point lead, but S.F. State came back again to tie the game at 19-19 on Ryan Wessel's layin and free throw.

The Jacks expanded the lead to six points when Jameson Figgatt followed a missed shot, crashing in for the putback. They pushed the margin further, moving up by nine points, but the Gators managed the final four points of the period, trimming it to 36-31 on Rodriguez' layup.

In the second half, Humboldt State slowly pulled away to what looked like an insurmountable edge, taking a 57-40 lead with 9:24 remaining on the clock. But they twice trimmed it  to eight again, the second time on a three-pointer by Hayes in the final two minutes.

Humboldt State vs San Francisco State
01/11/08 7:30 p.m. at San Francisco, Calif(Main Gymnasium)
At San Francisco, Calif(Main Gymnasium)
HUMBOLDT STATE 69, SAN FRANCISCO STATE 59
HUMBOLDT STATE (9-3, 4-1 CCAA)
MOYER, Grayson 5-6 5-6 16; PEAL, Devin 5-12 4-7 14; SHEUFELT, Will 5-12 2-3
13; FIGGATT, Jameson 3-4 0-0 6; SPADA, Ernie 2-7 2-2 6; VANDERMEER, Cy 3-5
0-0 6; GREEN, Nick 1-2 2-3 4; DEL RIO, Efren 1-4 1-1 4; SMITH, Everett 0-4
0-0 0. Totals 25-56 16-22 69.
SAN FRANCISCO STATE (8-4, 3-2 CCAA)
HAYES, Robert 6-14 0-0 13; RODRIGUEZ, Chris 6-10 0-2 12; FLORES, Martin 3-7
4-4 10; THOMAS, Alex 4-11 0-2 10; WESSELS, Ryan 2-3 2-3 6; ROBINSON, Darryl
2-3 0-0 4; FLETCHER, Derek 1-2 0-0 2; O'ROURKE, Phoenix 0-2 2-3 2; LOGAN,
Will 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 8-14 59.
Humboldt State................   36   33  -   69
San Francisco State...........   31   28  -   59
3-point goals--Humboldt State 3-18 (DEL RIO, Efren 1-3; SHEUFELT, Will 1-4;
MOYER, Grayson 1-2; SPADA, Ernie 0-4; VANDERMEER, Cy 0-1; SMITH, Everett
0-2; PEAL, Devin 0-2), San Francisco State 3-14 (THOMAS, Alex 2-5; HAYES,
Robert 1-6; O'ROURKE, Phoenix 0-1; RODRIGUEZ, Chris 0-2). Fouled
out--Humboldt State-VANDERMEER, Cy, San Francisco State-None.
Rebounds--Humboldt State 35 (VANDERMEER, Cy 8), San Francisco State 31
(THOMAS, Alex 6). Assists--Humboldt State 12 (MOYER, Grayson 7), San
Francisco State 12 (THOMAS, Alex 7). Total fouls--Humboldt State 14, San
Francisco State 18. Technical fouls--Humboldt State-None, San Francisco
State-None. A-622