HAYWARD, Calif. -- Despite missing a pair of starters, the Humboldt State men's basketball team picked up an 81-57 win over Cal State East Bay and completed its first road sweep of the season Saturday.
 
The Lumberjacks' fourth-straight victory improves their record to 13-7 versus California Collegiate Athletic Association opponents and 19-7 overall. Cal State East Bay drops to 6-20 overall and 4-16 in conference.
 
"We demonstrated mental toughness and displayed our physicality against Cal State East Bay," said Head Coach Steve Kinder. "We took another step forward and got better tonight. This is a very tough place to play and getting a win tonight shows that we are continuing to improve each game."
 
Coming into Saturday's game, HSU had not won a regular season game in Hayward, Calif., since the 2010 season.
 
A Calvin Young II layup began an 11-3 run to start the second half, which gave the Jacks a 46-33 advantage with under 12 minutes remaining. The Green and Gold added to their lead and pushed it to a game-high 25, 76-51, at the 4:06 mark.
 
Young finished the game with a team-high 13 rebounds, two blocks and nine points.
 
HSU carried a 35-30 lead into the locker room, despite allowing eight-straight points to end the half. Rakim Brown compiled 12 first-half points to lead HSU in scoring, and he finished the game with 14.
 
The Jacks led by 13 points, 35-22, with 1:52 to go in the opening period before the Pioneers went on their run.
 
Cal State East Bay committed 17 turnovers in the game and HSU capitalized on their miscues. The Green and Gold scored 24 points off of turnovers.
 
Justin Everett had a career night for the Jacks and was one of five players to reach double-figure scoring totals with 11. The freshman out of Clovis, Calif., logged a season-high 13 minutes, dished out a pair of assists and pulled down five rebounds. Everett was 4-for-5 shooting and converted 4-of-5 free throw attempts.
 
"Justin is our postseason secret weapon," said Kinder. "He was not able to play significant minutes early in the season due to our depth. Even though he hasn't played a lot of minutes, he is a very confident basketball player. It is remarkable how confident he is to step in during a road weekend and play at such a high level."
 
Saturday's win provided another example of the consistent production HSU senior Allan Guei brings to the starting lineup. The Compton, Calif., product quietly accumulated a team-leading 15 points in 35 minutes of action.
 
HSU hosts UC San Diego Thursday, Feb. 26, in Lumberjack Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Cal Poly Pomona comes to the North Coast Saturday, Feb. 28, for Senior Night. Tickets for both games are still available.
 
"We are peaking at the right time, and our main focus is to continue to get better game by game," said Kinder. "Our team wants to be playing its best basketball in March."