ARCATA, Calif. - Cal Poly Pomona began a tough stretch of four road games out of five in strong fashion, pulling away from Humboldt State, 81-67, in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) men's basketball action inside Lumberjack Arena on Thursday night.

With a third-straight victory, Cal Poly Pomona improves to 16-5 overall and 12-4 in the CCAA. Twelfth-place Humboldt State drops to 8-14 overall and 4-13 in league play.

With leader UC San Diego's 82-74 win at Chico State and Cal State San Bernardino's 78-70 success at Stanislaus State, the Broncos leap over the Wildcats into third, still a game back of the second-place Coyotes.

Appearing in his milestone 100th career game, fourth-year senior Riley Schaefer led CPP with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 from the line. He added four rebounds, one assist and a block.

Senior William Christmas came off the bench for a third game in a row and provided 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Junior Phoenix Shackelford added 15 points, with senior Justin Young a fourth Bronco in double figures at 11 points on a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor. Redshirt junior Mason Dickerson contributed six points on two triples, to go along with two assists, two steals and a block.

Senior sharpshooter Jackson Strong did all he could to keep HSU in the contest, going off for 31 points while knocking down a school-record-tying 10 of the Jacks' 14 three-pointers, over the full 40 minutes. The 10 triples, on 17 tries, were a single-game high in the CCAA this season.

A hotly-contested first half featured seven lead changes and five tie scores, with the Broncos leading by no more than four, but trailing by as many as six, 33-27, at the 4:24 mark after a Zachariah Christian three. From there, Christmas assisted Young on a dunk, and Shackelford nailed a three-pointer to close within one.

Strong hit his seventh three of the period (7-9) as he led all players with 21 already by the break, but the Broncos responded with their best run of the half at 6-0 to regain a 38-36 lead. Young split free throws, Christmas was true from long range for the tie, and Schaefer knocked down a pair. He would add a three-pointer to keep CPP on top, 41-40, at the interval.

Strong opened the second half like he ended the first, with a three-pointer, to give HSU one final edge at 43-41. Schaefer quickly knotted the score with a jumper. Later, a 9-0 run turned a 51-49 advantage into a 60-49 bulge at the 12:27 mark. Schaefer scored two buckets, Dickerson had a three, and junior Tavian Henderson added a fast-break dunk, assisted by Dickerson, during the stretch.

The hosts came no closer than 10 points the rest of the way, with Cal Poly Pomona leading by as many as 19 over the final four minutes.

At 39.6 percent (21-53) from the field, the Broncos held the Jacks to just a touch above their season average of 39.0, as CPP entered the day third in all of Division II in field goal percentage defense.

The Broncos never trailed in rolling to a 96-64 home decision over the Jacks in this season's first meeting back on Dec. 5, a result that marked 20th-year head coach Greg Kamansky's milestone 400th career win.

Cal Poly Pomona remains in Northern California and heads back down to Turlock to take on fifth-place Stanislaus State (13-9, 9-8 CCAA) on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

Bronco Bits: For the fifth time this season and third game in a row, Cal Poly Pomona opened with the lineup of fourth-year seniors Nikhil Peters, Riley Schaefer and Justin Young, and juniors Phoenix Shackelford and BJ Standley, as a fourth fourth-year senior, leading scorer William Christmas, came off the bench for the fourth time ... Peters, Schaefer and Shackelford have started all 21 contests ... It was a ninth start for Standley ... Schaefer has six 20-point games this year and seven in his career ... The Broncos are 10-3 away from home in 2019-20, including 8-2 in true road dates ... CPP has won the last four meetings in the all-time series, and three in a row in Arcata ... The Broncos had taken the final two of the three matchups between these teams a year ago, including a first-round home tilt in the CCAA Tournament on March 5 (85-67), having dropped the regular-season matchup in Pomona on New Year's Eve (70-65) ... Greg Kamansky is 410-164 (.714) over his career and 304-118 (.720) in CCAA play.