Box Score
SAN BERNARDINO --- Cal State San Bernardino maintained pace with Humboldt State, which won earlier in the day over Cal State Monterey Bay, with a 60-53 win over Chico State to stay in a tie for first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
The Coyotes (15-5, 13-3 CCAA) got a big night from Bryan LeDuc who led the team in both points with 19 and rebounds with 13 for his sixth double-double of the season. The senior from Corona went 6-for-8 from the field and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. David Jefferson went 4-for-5 from the field, scoring 11 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Corey Caston and Devon Davis each scored eight.
Despite turning the ball over 22 times and giving up a point per turnover, the Coyotes were able to turn it up on the defensive end as well. CSUSB forced 17 turnovers and held the Wildcats (11-9, 7-8) to just 18-for-52 (.346) from the field.
Roderick Hawkins led the Wildcats with 19 while Nick Lonnegren scored 11 and Jon Baird scored 10.
It took the Coyotes just five minutes to jump out to a 15-5 lead and a minute later they took their biggest lead of the half at 17-5 on a pair of free throws by Aaron Hill. CSUSB held a 21-10 lead with 11:06 left when a Jay Flores 3-pointer sparked 13-3 run capped by a Lonnegren three to make it a one-point game at 24-23 with 50 seconds left in the half. Bryan LeDuc sank the front end of a pair of free throw attempts to give the Coyotes a 25-23 lead at the half.
The Wildcats took their first lead since the 18:55 mark in the first half, when they led 3-2, on a 7-0 run to lead 32-30 in the second half. The lead didn't last long as LeDuc hit a 3-pointer and Davis hit back-to-back buckets to put the Coyotes back up 37-32 before taking a 42-35 lead with 11:19 left to play. Chico State twice cut its deficit to two and trailed 48-46 with 6:06 remaining, but CSUSB hit three from the charity stripe to jump out to a 51-46 lead. The Wildcats had a chance to bring it back to a three-point game when Hawkins picked up a steal and raced to the hole. LeDuc was giving chase, but backed off at the last second, spooking Hawkins who missed the layup. Hill then nailed another three on the other end to complete the five-point swing and gave the Coyotes a 54-46 lead with 3:45 to play.
Chico scored five straight to make it a 54-51 game with 2:27 left, but the Coyotes went 6-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to pull off the season sweep.
The next two weeks will be a test for CSUSB in the battle for the CCAA title. The Coyotes travel to Sonoma State, Humboldt State, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. before returning home for the final two games of the regular season.
