ARCATA — Playing with an injured left thumb that he was scheduled to have surgery on next week, Devin Peal fueled an inspirational comeback in Humboldt State's 80-69 victory over UC San Diego in California Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball action Saturday.

With the win, the Jacks improved to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the CCAA. UC San Diego dropped to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in league games.

The Lumberjacks trailed by as many as 16 points in the opening half, forged by a UCSD squad that hit 65 percent of hits shots from the field. The percentage was much higher until the final five minutes of the period, when the Jacks outscored the Tritons, 11-3 to trail 45-39 at the break.

"We were playing well in the first half, but they were shooting lights out," HSU head coach Tom Wood said.  "I told myself that if they shoot 80 percent for the game, we're going to lose anyway. But we turned the corner, then kept it going in the second half."

Peal, who missed Thursday's game after the decision was made to surgically reattach his damaged ligament, received good news Friday that he could attempt to play. Despite a heavily taped thumb, he scored 22 points to share game-high honors with teammate Grayson Moyer.

"(Peal) gives us unbelievable confidence just by looking at him," Wood said. "When he's playing his best, he's better than most of the team's best."

Also in double figures for the Jacks were Cy Vandermeer, with 12 points, and Will Sheufelt, with 11 and four assists. Jordan Lawley scored 20 points for UCSD, Clint Allard and Henry Patterson both contributed 13, and Alan Kim added 11 points.

Kim started the second half with a three-pointer, providing the Tritons with a nine-point lead, but the Jacks countered with a 16-6 run over the next six minutes. Moyer's layup provided HSU with its first lead since the opening minutes, putting the Jacks up 55-54.

HSU kept the pace furious while the Tritons cooled off over the remainder of the game, finishing with a 51 percent overall shooting mark. Humboldt State grew the lead to as many as 16 points after taking its first double-digit advantage on Vandermeer's jumper with 4 minutes, 48 seconds remaining.

The Lumberjacks go back on the road for two CCAA games next week, taking on San Francisco State on Friday and CSU Monterey on Saturday.

UC San Diego vs Humboldt State Men
01-05-08 7:30 PM at Arcata, Calif.
At Arcata, Calif.
HUMBOLDT STATE MEN 80, UC SAN DIEGO 69
UC SAN DIEGO (6-3, 3-1)
LAWLEY, Jordan 7-10 2-3 20; ALLARD, Clint 4-9 2-3 13; PATTERSON, Henry 5-9
3-4 13; KIM, Alan 4-7 1-2 11; HATCH, Andrew 2-5 0-0 4; MAULHARDT, AJ 2-2 0-0
4; BROWNING, Andrew 1-1 0-0 2; DREITH, Patrick 1-1 0-0 2; BULL, Jason 0-0
0-0 0; POPPEN, Shane 0-0 0-0 0; RYAN, Casey 0-1 0-0 0; LAWLOR, Darryl 0-6
0-0 0; HUSTED, Alan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-51 8-12 69.
HUMBOLDT STATE MEN (8-3, 3-1)
PEAL, Devin 8-17 6-10 22; MOYER, Grayson 7-10 7-7 22; VANDERMEER, Cy 5-10
2-6 12; SHEUFELT, Will 3-7 5-5 11; SPADA, Ernie 2-4 0-0 5; FIGGATT, Jameson
2-3 0-0 4; GREEN, Nick 1-2 0-0 2; DEL RIO, Efren 1-1 0-0 2; GIVENS, James
0-1 0-0 0; SMITH, Everett 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-55 20-28 80.
UC San Diego..................   45   24  -   69
Humboldt State Men............   39   41  -   80
3-point goals--UC San Diego 9-18 (LAWLEY, Jordan 4-6; ALLARD, Clint 3-4;
KIM, Alan 2-2; RYAN, Casey 0-1; LAWLOR, Darryl 0-3; HATCH, Andrew 0-2),
Humboldt State Men 2-5 (MOYER, Grayson 1-1; SPADA, Ernie 1-3; SHEUFELT, Will
0-1). Fouled out--UC San Diego-None, Humboldt State Men-None. Rebounds--UC
San Diego 31 (LAWLEY, Jordan 5; PATTERSON, Henry 5), Humboldt State Men 26
(MOYER, Grayson 9). Assists--UC San Diego 12 (HATCH, Andrew 4), Humboldt
State Men 13 (SHEUFELT, Will 4). Total fouls--UC San Diego 26, Humboldt
State Men 14. Technical fouls--UC San Diego-None, Humboldt State Men-None.
A-1207