ARCATA, Calif. – With the winter break on the horizon, the Humboldt State men's basketball team knew the added importance of a win over rival Chico State. Amari Green crashed the boards and supplied the game-winning putback as the Lumberjacks delivered in front of their home fans, 55-53, Saturday night.

"Our defensive effort generated our offensive opportunities," said HSU Head Coach Steve Kinder. "Whenever we are playing at home we like to use the Lumberjack Arena fanfare as an extra sixth man boost."

With the game knotted at 53-all with 22 seconds remaining, HSU came out of a timeout with the plan of connecting with sharpshooting guard Jackson Strong. But when Strong's trey missed the mark, Green got the rebound and scored the game-winning bucket with 1.2 seconds on the clock.

"You hesitate to put a freshman into the game in those moments with a rivalry game on the line, but he's not a true freshman anymore. It was a gutsy move to put him in because we needed to have an extra ball handler on the floor. He has a championship pedigree from high school, and it showed tonight."

HSU opened the game hitting on all cylinders and jumped out to an early lead. The home team held the Wildcats to under 10 points until the 5:25 mark and led by as many as 17 points in the opening half. The Jacks took a 35-20 lead into the locker room. Justin Everett led the way with 12 points and seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

The scrappy visitors fought back and pulled within two points on a Justin Briggs layup with less than six to play. An Isaiah Brooks three-pointer and a Nate Ambrosini layup evened the game at 53-53 with 25 seconds left before Green's game-winner.

"I initially thought the shot was going to go in, and I wasn't going to crash," said Green. "I got in the mindset to crash just in case. It came off my way and I happened to put it back. It was kind of like slow motion with everyone rushing me and the crowd going wild. Nothing like it."

Everett and Kameron Curl led HSU scorers with 14 points apiece.

HSU hosts New Hope Christian Monday at 7 p.m.