ARCATA—After scrapping back from a 17-point deficit to tie the game with 25 seconds remaining, the Chico State men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker at Humboldt State Saturday night on an offensive rebound and put back with one second remaining.
 
The Wildcats, who held Humboldt State's California Collegiate Athletic Association-leading offense to just 18 second-half points prior to the game winner, forced the Lumberjacks into an off-balanced 3-pointer with two seconds left that clanked off the rim. But Amari Green glided in, grabbed the rebound, and laid it in with 1.2 seconds left for the win, snapping the Lumberjacks' six-game losing streak in the 204^th meeting of a rivalry that dates back to 1933.
 
The rebound gave Humboldt State a plus-11 advantage on the boards (45-34), the biggest margin against a Chico State team since Nov. 27, 2015, and denied Wildcats head coach Greg Clink his 200^th career victory.

 

Chico State trailed 30-13 late in the opening half and by 15 at the break. But they rallied in the second half outscoring Humboldt State 11-3 over the first four minutes to get the deficit to single digits and then methodically chopping into it further.
 
A Malik Duffy 3-pointer and Justin Briggs layup after Duffy's steal made it a 50-48 game with 5:44 to play. But neither team scored over the next four minutes.
 
The Wildcats missed four shots in the paint and a pair of 3-pointers, all that would have tied the game or given them the lead.
 
The Lumberjacks finally broke the drought with Hunter Johnson's 3-pointer with 1:26 remaining, pushing the lead to five, before Isaiah Brooks railed a 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining to once again make it a one-possession game.
 
Nate Ambrosini stole the ball on the Lumberjacks ensuing possession and went coast to coast, converting a twisting layup to tie the game for the first time since it was 2-2.
 
But the Wildcats trailed again when they got the ball back, and Briggs' half-court heave at the buzzer was no good.
 
Ambrosini finished with a season-high 12 points to pace the Wildcats. The senior from Fortuna, just 30 minutes south of Arcata on Highway 101, also grabbed a season-high three steals. Kevin Warren and Brooks chipped in eight points apiece, and Duffy finished with seven points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
 
The game was the first of five straight away from home for Chico State, which fell to 2-3 overall and 2-3 in the CCAA. The Wildcats will be at Dominican University for a 4 p.m. non-conference matchup—their first of the season—Thursday.
 
Humboldt State improved to 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the CCAA.