ARCATA — Going up against a senior-laden squad, Humboldt State turned to its own veteran of the wars, Jameson Figgatt, who came up with clutch plays for the second straight game in the Lumberjacks' 60-55 win over UC San Diego on Saturday.

Figgatt, one of only two active seniors on the Jack's roster, tied the game at 52-52 with a jumper with 2 minutes, 16 seconds remaining. He then broke the tie with a rebound and putback with 50 seconds remaining before grabbing another big rebound  and hitting a free throw with five seconds left to seal the win.

Figgatt finished with a team-high 13 points and six rebounds, and Zac Tiedeman added 10 points to help HSU improve to 16-6 overall and 9-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Shane Poppen had 16 points, Jordan Lawley scoreed 14 and Kelvin Kim added 11 for the Tritons, who dropped to 11-7 overall and 8-4 in league.

"(UCSD) is right there as one of the best teams in our league, and for us to stand our ground against them is a big statement," HSU head coach Tom Wood said. "They have four seniors who start, and another who is a big player for them. I'm proud of the way we handled ourselves against a seasoned team."

A team reliant on its three-point shooting much of the season, the Jacks turned to their inside game against UCSD. With leading rebounder and third-leading scorer Kevin Atkins in early foul trouble, Figgatt and Owen Newman responded to the challenge, missing only three shots of 12 between them.

Most of the opening half featured a nip-and-tuck battle that slightly favored the Lumberjacks. The game was tied six times, but HSU surged ahead as the period wound down, taking a 32-26 lead on Elliot Babcock-Krenk's layup following a feed from Figgatt.

HSU couldn't shake the Tritons in the second half, with the lead never growing larger than six.  Humboldt held that advantage with 12:12 remaining, only to watch the Tritons score seven unanswered points and forge ahead, 43-42 on a pair of Poppen free throws.

UC San Diego led 52-51 after Lawley's layup with 2:50 remaining, before Figgatt put up his back-to-back scores. Ernie Spada, Tiedeman and Kyle Baxter contributed free throws in the final minute to help keep HSU on top.

Another balanced effort for HSU also featured three players with seven points – Baxter, Atkins and Spada –and Newman added six with a perfect 3-of-3 from the field. HSU took care of the basketball, turning it over only six times, and narrowly lost the battle of the boards, 32-29.

The Lumberjacks remain tied for first place in the CCAA with CSU San Bernardino, a 74-65 winner over Cal State Los Angeles on Saturday. Also tied for the top spot coming into the evening were UC San Diego and Cal State Dominguez Hills, who dropped into second along with the Tritons after losing, 60-55.

Humboldt State travels for league games this week, taking on Cal State Monterey Bay in Seaside on Friday and San Francisco State on Saturday.

UCSD vs Humboldt State
1/31/09 at Arcata, Calif. (Lumberjack Arena)
At Arcata, Calif. (Lumberjack Arena)
HUMBOLDT STATE 60, UCSD 55
UCSD (11-7, 8-4 CCAA)
POPPEN, Shane 5-8 6-7 16; LAWLEY, Jordan 5-13 3-4 14; KIM, Kelvin 4-13 0-0
11; HUSTED, Alan 2-7 0-0 5; ACEVEDO, Tyler 1-2 0-0 3; STUCKEY, Brett 1-1 0-0
2; MAULHARDT, A.J. 1-3 0-0 2; RYAN, Casey 1-1 0-0 2; RUIZ, Kirby 0-1 0-0 0;
LAWLOR, Darryl 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 9-11 55.
HUMBOLDT STATE (16-6, 9-3 CCAA)
FIGGATT, Jameson 6-9 1-2 13; TIEDEMAN, Zac 1-6 8-8 10; BAXTER, Kyle 3-4 1-2
7; SPADA, Ernie 1-3 4-4 7; ATKINS, Kevin 3-6 0-0 7; NEWMAN, Owen 3-3 0-3 6;
BABCOCK-KRENK, E. 2-2 0-0 4; BROOME, David 1-4 0-0 2; HOWARD, David 1-3 0-0
2; PETTY, Will 1-2 0-0 2; DAVIS, Keith 0-0 0-0 0; MATHEWS, Colt 0-3 0-0 0;
KEHRIG, Mike 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-47 14-19 60.
UCSD..........................   26   29  -   55
Humboldt State................   32   28  -   60
3-point goals--UCSD 6-26 (KIM, Kelvin 3-10; ACEVEDO, Tyler 1-2; HUSTED, Alan
1-6; LAWLEY, Jordan 1-5; RUIZ, Kirby 0-1; LAWLOR, Darryl 0-2), Humboldt
State 2-8 (SPADA, Ernie 1-2; ATKINS, Kevin 1-1; BAXTER, Kyle 0-1; HOWARD,
David 0-1; PETTY, Will 0-1; MATHEWS, Colt 0-1; TIEDEMAN, Zac 0-1). Fouled
out--UCSD-None, Humboldt State-None. Rebounds--UCSD 32 (MAULHARDT, A.J. 9),
Humboldt State 29 (FIGGATT, Jameson 6). Assists--UCSD 6 (RYAN, Casey 2),
Humboldt State 11 (TIEDEMAN, Zac 5). Total fouls--UCSD 20, Humboldt State
13. Technical fouls--UCSD-None, Humboldt State-None. A-1850