Box Score: No. 13 Humboldt State 68, Coyotes 61

SAN BERNARDNIO -- A hard-fought battle against No. 13 Humboldt State did not go Cal State San Bernardino's way Saturday night as the Coyotes were defeated 68-61 before a season-best crowd of 1,125 at Coussoulis Arena.

The Coyotes are 12-9 overall and 10-7 in the CCAA as they now prepare for next week's games at Cal State Stanislaus (Friday) and Chico State (Saturday).

The Coyotes led throughout the first half and neither team led by more than eight points at any time during the game. CSUSB went into the break leading 35-29 on the strength of a 15-3 advantage from the 3-point stripe.

CSUSB led 42-37 with 15:56 when senior Corey Caston drained a 3-pointer. But the Coyotes cooled off considerably as HSU went to a smaller, quicker lineup for about five minutes. During that stretch, HSU outscored the Coyotes 11-2 and led 48-44 on Randy Hunter's two free throws with 10:41 left.

The Lumberjacks remained out front, but the Coyotes were never out of reach and tied the game at 59-59 when senior Aaron Hill drained a 3-pointer with 3:12 left.

But HSU grabbed the lead on a 3-point play from Brian Morris and outscored the Coyotes 9-2 over the final 2:54 and earned its first win over the Coyotes in San Bernardino in eight meetings.

The Coyotes shot 37.1 percent from the floor on 23-of-62 shooting. The big edge was in free throws as the Lumberjacks outscored CSUSB 28-8 at the line.

Brandon Sperling led the 20-2 overall, 16-2 league-leading Jacks wityh 18 points. Hunter added 13.

Junior Theron Laudremill led the Coyotes in scoring with 13. Caston had 12 and Hill had 11.