SEASIDE – The CSUSB Coyotes used a dominant first half to fuel themselves to a 84-69 win at Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday afternoon.
Jeremy Smith scored 27 points to go with seven rebounds on 10-of-15 shooting from the point guard position to lead the charge.
Andres Villa matched him with 27 points from the post as he was nine-of-10 on the game.
Daytone Jennings added 12 and
Jordan Mitchell scored 11. Villa added 11 rebounds and Jennings had 10 as they both posted double-doubles.
The Yotes actually fell behind early in the first half, but tied the game at 10 by the 13:55 mark. After some back and forth action, the Yotes finished the last 10 minutes on an 18-5 run to lead by 17 at the half.
The Coyotes shot 49 percent, held the Otters to 34.5 percent, and dominated the glass 47-33. The Yotes absolutely controlled points in the paint, 48-16.
"This was a tough game for us to grit out," head coach
Andy Newman said. "The guys battled through fatigue and a lot of travel to beat a really good Monterey Bay team. I was proud of the effort from Bulldog (
Andres Villa) and Daytone as they commanded the paint all night long."
CSUSB returns home next week and will host Stanislaus State on Thursday at 7:30 pm. Live links are on CSUSBathletics.com.
