LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The upset bid by the UC San Diego men's basketball team came up just short as Jeremiah Ward's layup with just four seconds to go on the clock lifted the 11th-ranked Humboldt State Lumberjacks to a 61-59 victory on Saturday night in RIMAC Arena. The loss snaps UCSD's four-game win streak and drops the Tritons to 10-11 overall and 8-8 in CCAA play while HSU improves to 18-3 overall and remains atop the CCAA standings with its 13-3 league mark.
UCSD led the entire first half, holding a 10-point lead half way through the first stanza before the Lumberjacks chipped away and climbed within one point at the break. Devin Peal hit a layup just 23 seconds into the second half to give HSU its first lead of the game at 30-29.
Both teams would go back-and-forth in the second half, exchanging the lead seven times and posting a tie score on five different occasions. UCSD held a slim 57-54 lead with 3:33 to go after sophomore Kelvin Kim hit his fourth 3-pointer of the contest. Peal would go 3-for-4 from the line over the next two minutes to knot the score at 57 apiece.
Humboldt State's Kevin Johnson connected on a 15-footer with 51 seconds to go to put the Lumberjacks up by a 59-57 score. UCSD's Darryl Lawlor scrapped under the basket and made a layup with 29 seconds on the clock to tie the game for the last time on the night.
After the Triton bucket, HSU moved the ball across the midway stripe and called a timeout to setup its play. After a lot of motion and ball movement, Johnson swung the ball to the left corner to Ward where he drove past Kim and hit a very difficult layup for the 2-point advantage.
UCSD quickly inbounded the ball and advanced the ball to midcourt where Clint Allard's desperation shot missed just left, giving the Lumberjacks a hard fought victory.
HSU's Kevin Johnson led all scorers with 22 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Devin Peal added 14 points in the victory.
Kim led the way for the Tritons, scoring 14 points and handing out five assists. Henry Patterson went 6-for-10 from the floor for 12 points while Allard added eight points and seven assists.
The loss for the Tritons was only their second in five attempts against a ranked opponent. UCSD has posted victories this year over No. 2 Montevallo, No. 4 Seattle Pacific and No. 11 Cal State San Bernardino. The only other loss to a ranked team was a 6-point loss at home to No. 24 Cal Poly Pomona.
Head coach Bill Carr and his squad return to action next weekend, hosting Cal State Bakersfield on Friday night and Cal State L.A. on Saturday evening. Both games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. starts.
