Box Score LA JOLLA – After leading by 11 points, Humboldt State survived a furious UC San Diego comeback attempt to come away with a 65-64 men's basketball win Saturday and a sweep of the Jacks' two-game roadtrip. The victory propelled the Lumberjacks into a five-way tie for first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association at the season's midpoint.

Kyle Baxter powered HSU to the win, scoring a career-high 23 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and coming up with three steals. Randy Hunter added 16 points and Scott Clark scored 13. The three seniors' efforts helped the Jacks improve to 12-4 overall and 8-4 in the CCAA, while UCSD slipped to 7-10 in all games and 3-9 in conference contests.

"We missed a couple of assignments, defensively, and we weren't making shots down the stretch," Humboldt State head coach Steve Kinder said. "But we still stayed calm, for the most part. The bottom line is we played well enough throughout the game to give ourselves a cushion that allowed us to win."

Tyler McGrath led the Tritons with 17 points, and ignited the three-point onslaught that nearly rescued his team from defeat. McGrath made five three pointers, including a bomb that cut the HSU lead back down to single digits before teammate James McCann hit one of his own to shave the Jacks' lead to four points at 63-59 with two minutes, 32 seconds remaining.

The Tritons missed a jumper and putback in the final three seconds, sealing Humboldt State's fifth straight victory and 11th in 12 games in the all-time series against UCSD.

Clark's early offense spurred the Jacks out of the gate, as he scored seven of Humboldt State's first nine points to briefly provide a lead. When Justin Brue banked in a field goal with 13:37 left in the opening half, the Tritons gained a one-point lead of their own.

Turnovers and missed shots by both teams characterized the next 3 1/2 minutes before Dylan Bohanan layed the ball in to give UCSD a 16-13 lead. On the other end of the floor, Clark pulled up and hit a jumper while being fouled, and his free throw tied the game.

A sudden surge by HSU opened up some distance for the first time. Hunter dropped in a jumper between two Baxter layups for a 28-21 Lumberjack lead. Steals by freshman Ethan Dillard created the first two opportunities.

"I'm really proud of Kyle," Kinder said. "Again, he did so much that didn't show up in the statistics. He helped us by communicating to his teammmates, and was a great extension of the coaching staff on the floor."

Baxter came up with a steal of his own, and finished the play with a layup that gave the Jacks their largest lead of the first half, 34-25. McCann was successful on two free throw attempts to trim the Jacks' lead to seven at the break.

Midway through the second  half, the Lumberjacks gained their first double-digit advantage of the game on a layup by Baxter, and the lead stayed in that neighborhood for the next six minutes. That's when the drama unfolded, starting with a pair of three-pointers by McGrath. UCSD finished the game with a 10-2 run in the final seven minutes, Humboldt State's only score coming on Hunter's layup with 1:51 left to play.

One more January roadtrip remains – next weekend's travels to face Cal State Stanislaus and Chico State. Humboldt State plays six of its final eight games at home during the February stretch run.