Box Score

     Six-foot-eight Bryan LeDuc fueled Cal State San Bernardino's 81-61 non-conference victory over Vanguard University of Costa Mesa Tuesday night, finishing with a season-best 22 points and 16 rebounds. 
    LeDuc scored 15 of his points and grabbed 10 of his rebounds in the second half as the Coyotes wore down the Lions, 2-6, to improve to 4-2 on the season in their final tuneup before resuming CCAA conference play on Jan. 2 at Chico State. 
    Aiding LeDuc were center Devon Davis with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists. Junior David Jefferson came off the bench to score 12 points and throw down a thunder dunk with 2:23 left in the game as the Coyotes expanded their lead to 75-56. 
    Junior point guard Corey Caston, making his first start of the season had a game-high 10 assists for CSUSB. 
    LeDuc was virtually unstoppable. He hit 10 of 13 field goals, sank the only free throw he tried and improved his season stats considerably. He now is averaging 16.8 points a game and 8.0 rebounds a game, both team highs, and is shooting 65 percent from the field overall, 50 percent from the three and 91 percent from the foul line. Oh, and he leads the team in blocked shots with six. 
    Alex Chapman was splendid for Vanguard, scoring 26 points on 10 field goals, two from three-point range and four free throws. Elvis Whitelow had 11 points and a team high seven rebounds for the Lions. 
    Both teams struggled in the first half, but the Lions struggled the most, making just eight of 27 field goals (30 percent) to trail the Coyotes 33-24 at the break. CSUSB had 18 points in the paint to 10 for Vanguard and outscored them 9-3 on second-chance points. 
    Early in the second half, CSUSB opened up a 15-point lead, 45-30, on a layup by Caston but Chapman's jumper pulled the Lions to within 11 at 45-34 with 14:45 remaining. Steven Gaston hit a three-pointer for CSUSB to widen the gap to 15 again at 54-39 with 12:29 to go. 
    Vanguard moved to within 13 points at 64-51 with 7:12 left in the game on a jumper by Dennis Heenan but Lawrence Tyson responded on the next possession with a three-pointer to boost the Coyotes lead back to 16 at 67-51. 
    The Lions never got closer than 13 the rest of the way and that happened just once at 64-51 on a trey by Chapman with 6:39 left. 
    Cal State Coach Jeff Oliver used 13 players in the game. 
    The Coyotes shot 48 percent for the game, despite missing 18 of 25 three-point tries. They put up 75 shots and 36 fell through the net. The team was a disappointing four of 10 from the foul line. CSUSB had 28 assists on its 36 field goals. 
    Vanguard shot 39 percent for the game (23 of 59), six of 16 three-point tries and hit nine of 12 free throws, but committed 14 turnovers and were outrebounded 49-31 by the Coyotes.