Box Score ARCATA — Arriving from sunny La Jolla just in time for the record-setting cold snap in Humboldt County, the UC San Diego Tritons experienced chilly shooting in the first half of Thursday's California Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball game against Humboldt State. That all changed in the second half of UCSD's 75-69 win over the Lumberjacks.
The loss in their first conference contest ended the Jacks' four-game winning streak, dropping them to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in league. UCSD drained five 3-pointers in the second period, rallying from a 36-30 halftime deficit to improve its record to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the CCAA.
"When a team starts successfully shooting 3-pointers over your zone, in your house, that's what can happen," HSU head coach
Steve Kinder said. "I think we learned from this game that when an opponent comes back on you, you have to be able to fight off that challenge."
UCSD shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half following a 33 percent effort in the opening period. HSU managed just the opposite, connecting on 53 percent in the first half and 40 percent in the second.
Humboldt State pulled ahead by as many as 19 points in the first half behind the efforts of
David Howard. The junior forward dropped in 10 of his eventual total of 15 points, also finishing with a team-high 10 rebounds to record his fourth double-double of the season.
Meanwhile, the Tritons struggled from long distance, missing 11 of their first 12 attempts from 3-point range. They recovered nicely in the closing minutes of the period, hitting four consecutive 3-pointers and outscoring the Jacks 17-2 in the final 3 minutes to pull within six.
Howard,
Allan Guei and
Jordan Mackie helped the Jacks maintain a moderate advantage through the first nine minutes of the second half, pulling ahead by 10 points again on Howard's 3-pointer. Guei finished with a team-high 16 points and Mackie added 15 to supplement Howard's efforts.
Several Tritons contributed to UCSD's rally, including MacKenzie McCullough, whose layup tied the sore with 9 minutes, 28 seconds remaining in the game. Sophomore Drew Dyer held the hottest hand, contributing three of his four 3-pointers in the second half to finish with a team-high 18 points.
Also scoring in double figures for UCSD were McCullough with 15 points, Aleks Lipovic with 12, James McCann with 11 and Hunter Walker with 10. Walker connected on all four of his free throw attempts in the game's final nine seconds to hold off HSU's comeback attempt.
The Lumberjacks will try to achieve a split of this week's home games when they take on CSU San Bernardino on Saturday. Tip-off in Lumberjack Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
