ARCATA, Calif. – Nikhil Lizotte raced across midcourt and sank a 23-foot shot with 1 second remaining to give Humboldt State men's basketball an 87-84 win over Dominican Wednesday evening.
 
The Lumberjacks improved to 5-1 and captured their 30^th consecutive regular season home win over a non-conference opponent. Dominican slips to 1-3 overall.
 
"The Penguins are a very well-coached team," said Head Coach Steve Kinder. "Coach Rich Mendoza was here for a significant amount of time during a great era. When we started losing ground it was gut-wrenching because Mendoza was countering a lot of things we were doing. That is the truth. And that was what was going on during tonight's game."
 
HSU had a 48-34 halftime lead thanks to an 18-point effort from Tyras Rattler Jr. Rattler connected on three of the home team's eight first half treys. He finished the half shooting 4-of-7 from the floor and 7-of-7 at the free-throw line.
 
The Green and Gold reserves contributed 12 first half points. Calvin Young II and Tyler Green each had six points off the bench. 
 
Jeremiah Gray helped the Penguins shuffle their way back into the ball game out of the break. Gray finished the game with a career-best 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting, and he scored 13 of Dominican's first 16 points of the second half.
 
Dominican erased the HSU advantage and led by one with 54 seconds left in regulation.
 
Rattler sank one of two free-throw attempts with 37 seconds remaining, and a Jack Kaub pass to Lizotte set up the game winner.
 
Lizotte's last-second shot didn't steal the thunder of Rattler's career night. The Oakland, Calif., native finished with a career-best 29 points. Rattler was 3-of-6 from outside the arc and contributed 12 points at the charity stripe.
 
Malik Morgan joined Lizotte and Rattler in double figures with 16 points. Young pulled down 11 of the Jacks' 28 rebounds and notched a team-high three blocks.
 
HSU wraps a five-game homestand with its conference opener against Cal State San Marcos Saturday, Nov. 27, at 7 p.m.
 
"I wish we had more rest," said Kinder. "We will give them tomorrow off and have a nice team meal. We will have a great day of preparation on Friday, and we will do the same on Saturday before the game. A very good basketball team is on its way up here."