ARCATA, Calif. – The Humboldt State men's basketball team fended off a late run by Stanislaus State and captured an 87-78 victory over the Warriors Saturday night in Lumberjack Arena.

"I thought we did a nice job guarding these prolific players," said HSU Head Coach Steve Kinder. "Those guys are a great scoring group. We changed defense a couple of different times, and our guys picked that up and closed out the game well."

The Lumberjacks (6-4, 3-2 CCAA) jumped out to a double-digit advantage less than seven minutes into the game and kept rolling. The Green and Gold held the Warriors to a 12.5 percent shooting from 3-point range in the first half and went to the locker room with a 12-point lead, 42-30, at the break. Justin Everett and Jackson Strong led the way with 13 and 11 points, respectively, in the first 20 minutes.

"The goal for tonight was to come out and throw the first punch," said senior guard Kameron Curl. "Early in the season, we fell back and let the other team get us first, and we tried to catch up the rest of the game. We wanted to be the first ones to attack and be aggressive. We got the ball to Justin (Everett) and played inside out, and it worked for us."

Stanislaus battled back to tie the game at 50 apiece, but the Jacks answered with nine straight points to pull away. HSU outscored the visitors 16-6 from the free-throw line to build a comfortable lead down the stretch. The highlight of the second half was Hunter Johnson finding Everett in traffic and the senior slamming a two-handed jam to give HSU a 78-68 advantage with 2:31 left to play.

Everett had a productive night finishing with a team-best 28 points, three steals and a pair of blocks. Three other Jacks recorded double-digit scoring figures, and Williams led the home team with nine rebounds. Ty Davis kept Stanislaus State in the game as he led the Warriors with 28 points and five assists.

The Green and Gold look to extend their winning streak next weekend as they host archrival Chico State Saturday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m. inside Lumberjack Arena.

"Playing at home is something we take great pride in," added Kinder. "There is a great tradition in this rivalry. Whether we are battling for first place or last place this game is always targeted on the schedule. It should be a great contest."