Box Score SAN BERNARDINO – The end of the road came for the top-seeded Coyotes in the NCAA West Region semifinal, losing to No. 4-seed Chico State 94-77 on Saturday night at Coussoulis Arena.
 
The Coyotes closed the season at 24-5 overall, the fewest losses by a Coyotes team since the 2003-04 team went 26-3.
 
On this night, it was all about the Wildcats, who hit 15 of their first 19 shots and built a 17-point lead in the late first half.
 
Chico State finished the night 37-of-55 from the floor, a 67.3-percent field goal effort that was an opponent-best against CSUSB this season.
 
Coyotes coach Jeff Oliver was quick to offer praise in a stellar effort by his team's opponent.
 
"I thought it was one of the better performances I've witnessed during my Division II coaching tenure,'' he said. "Chico State was efficient and invested in the game; hats off to them. They played great and deserve to be in the title game.''
 
Chico State (24-7 overall) moves on to face Cal State Stanislaus in Monday's title game at Coussoulis Arena. Tipoff is 7 p.m.
 
The Coyotes were led by senior Jordan Burris, who scored 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting with seven rebounds. CCAA Player of the Year Lacy Haddock had 14 with seven assists in 40 minutes. Andrew Young had 12 and Kirby Gardner 11.
 
"It was a tough loss tonight for several different reasons,'' Oliver said. "One, expectations were really high, going after a conference title and with aspirations beyond. And second, this was a tremendous group of young men to be around. For some to have their last game as a Coyote end tonight, well it's a tough one to swallow.''
 
The Wildcats had three players with 21 points each – Rashad Parker, Amir Carraway and Jordan Semple.
 
The Coyotes, who trailed 49-32 with 3:02 left in the first half, answered with a 9-0 run to close the half at 49-41.
 
But Chico State never let the lead go fewer than 10 points in the second half.