PALM DESERT -- Junior guard Lawrence Tyson scored 20 points and Tim Denson scored 17 Thursday night to lead Cal State San Bernardino men to a 74-70 exhibition win over Azusa Pacific University before 327 fans at Wright Gymnasium on the College of Desert campus.
    The Cougars were led by Dominique Johnson with a game-high 23 points. Kimarly Williams had 15 points and Dave Burgess collected 11 points and 10 rebounds and blocked two shots.
    The Coyotes rallied from a nine-point deficit midway through the second half. After Brayden Bell put the Cougars up 50-41 with 12:25 left, the Coyotes outscored APU 11-2 to tie the game at 52 with 9:10 left on a three-pointer by Tyson.
    CSUSB moved ahead 58-57 with 6:21 left as Denson shot three free throws after being fouled on a three-point try. Later, trailing 66-64, senior Reggie Brown drained a three for a 67-66 CSUSB lead with 3:19 left and after Johnson hit a jumper for the Cougars, Larry DeHughes scored on a layup and Tyson buried a three-pointer from the corner to give the Coyotes a 72-68 lead with 31 seconds left. 
    Johnson made it 72-70 on a layup with 10 seconds left but Denson converted two free throws with nine seconds left to ice the game.
    Tyson finished the night hitting eight of 12 shots from the floor and making four of seven 3-point tries. Denson shot 50 percent from the floor and made seven of eight foul shots. He also had an uncharacteristic eight of CSUSB's 15 turnovers.
    The game was either sloppy or well-defended by both teams, depending on your point of view.
The two teams combined for 34 turnovers -- 19 by APU (14 of them in the first half). The Cougars (1-2) shot 49 percent from the field (27 of 55) and 45 percent from the three (10 of 22).
    The Coyotes shot 54 percent (25 of 46) and 54 percent from the three (13 of 24) and sank 11 of 14 free throws (78 percent). 
    Senior guard DuBois Williams dished off seven assists while Denson had four assists and two steals to go with his 17 points. Reggie Brown had nine points, hitting three of four from beyond the new 3-point line employed this year for men's basketball.
    The Coyotes will open the regular season on Sunday at home at 3 p.m. against Alaska Fairbanks
.