SAN FRANCISCO -- The Coyotes' Kirby Gardner carries a muscular build at 6-foot-2 and the senior guard placed 9th-ranked Cal State San Bernardino on his back in its 75-65 victory over San Francisco State in CCAA basketball.

Gardner scored 24 points, including four 3-pointers in the first half, and the Coyotes got rolling in the second half for their 12th straight win -- their longest stretch of success in seven seasons.

The Coyotes, now 12-1 overall and on top of the CCAA at 9-0, came back after trailing for the first time all season at halftime. Their streak of not trailing in the second half also ended at eight games, but for only 108 seconds as Gardner and company won going away on a night when their field goal shooting was not on.

Gardner fired in his fifth 3-pointer of the night that tied the game at 40-40 with 18:12 left in the game. And a free throw 10 seconds later from senior G Lacy Haddock gave the Coyotes the lead they would not relinquish.

What helped the Coyotes get going in the final half was their ability to force turnovers and make the Gators pay. They outscored SFSU 18-3 off 17 second-half turnovers and secured a defensive season-high 24 turnovers.

SFSU cut the Coyotes' lead to three on a pair of Will Overton's free throws that made the score 60-57 with 4:59 left. However, CSUSB has been lights-out when holding a lead with 5 minutes left. They went on a 16-5 run over the next four-plus minutes with two more 3s from Gardner and five points from Jordan Burris.

Burris hit double-figures for his ninth straight game with 19 points, seven rebounds and five steals.

Senior Joshua Gouch also was steady with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and five steals.

Haddock was held to single digits for only the second time this season (seven points), but dealt 11 assists. It marked the fourth time this year he has had double-digit assists and is now averaging 7.2 per game.

Gardner's six 3-pointers are a team high and he also was tenacious on defense with four steals. CSUSB totaled a season-high 15 steals.

Overton led the Gators (7-5, 5-4) with 21.

The Coyotes go for their 13th straight win Saturday night at Sonoma State. A win would secure the Coyotes' longest winning streak since their school-record 22-game streak during the 2003-04 season.