San Jose, Calif.-----Guard Adrian Oliver scored a career-high for the second game in a row and forward C.J. Webster had his most productive game of the season leading San Jose State to an 82-76 win over the University of San Francisco.

Oliver led all players with 31 points, four more than in his debut on December 20 against Northern Colorado when he poured in 27. Webster powered his way to a season-high 20 points and shared game-high rebounding honors with eight as the Spartans (5-3) won for the third time in a row and are two games above the .500 mark.

USF (7-5), which already has road wins over Western Athletic Conference opponents Hawai'i and Boise State, was led in scoring by guard Kwame Brown who posted a career best 22 points and forward Dior Lowhorn who scored 21.

"Clearly, it was a hard-fought game. We never felt comfortable even though we had a workable margin most of the second half. Credit USF with digging in and stiffening up at the end of the game and getting themselves back into the game," said coach George Nessman. "I didn't like the way we played from the 10 minute to the 3-minute mark of the second half, but I really liked the way we played the last three minutes for the most part.

"We did the things we needed to do and that's a good sign for us. Against quality teams, we haven't had the experience of being up 15, 16, 17 points in the second half. We've had two games in a row when we've let (big) leads get away from us. Both USF and Northern Colorado fought their way back against us."

Tim Pierce was the only other player for either team to score in double figures with 16 points. The San Jose Sate forward matched Webster with eight rebounds.

San Jose State never trailed and led 40-30 at halftime. Webster and Oliver were an effective inside-outside combination with Webster scoring 13 and Oliver adding 11 by intermission. The Spartans led by as many as 16 points, 57-41 with 11:26 remaining before USF rallied and cut its deficit to as few as three points on two occasions in the final five minutes.

Eight of Oliver's 31 points came in the final four minutes to repel any USF hopes.

"I'm still working off a lot of rust. I look at the turnovers I normally wouldn't make, but that comes with playing," said Oliver. "We're getting the win. It may look ugly at the end, but at the end of the day, it's still a win in our column.

"When it got down to three, I saw the expression on some of the guys faces that they were kind of worried. There was no reason to panic. That's kind of my role on the team to calm down the team when it needs to be calmed down and set the tempo. At the end of a game, that's when I like to take over when my team needs it," Oliver said.

"His toughness and his composure makes this team play way more confident," observed Nessman. "From two weeks ago and looking at our team now, you can see a change in attitude. There is an expectation in our guys that we can do this more and more than we've ever had before. That's the influence Adrian has."

"Oliver is really talented. He scores in a lot of different ways. C.J. Webster hurt us in the first half on the offensive glass and in the post," said USF coach Rex Walters.

The Spartans return to action Saturday, December 27, when they face Saint Mary's in the opening night of the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic in Moraga. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.