ROHNERT PARK, Calif. - The #8 California State University San Bernardino men's basketball earned its first CCAA victory Thursday evening, knocking off Sonoma State 68-54 at the Wolves' Den.

With the win, the Coyotes move to 8-2 overall and 1-1 in the CCAA.

The teams battled back and forth in the opening 20 minutes, and the Coyotes held a narrow 32-30 lead at the halftime break. 

Sonoma State led by as many as six at 14-8 just over six minutes into the contest, but the visitors would score six straight points to draw even at 14-14 after a Nic Welp (Seattle, Wash.) put-back with 11:48 showing on the clock.

CSUSB took its largest lead of the first half at 30-22 with 4:38 minutes until the horn on an Evan Oliver (San Bernardino, Calif.) triple, but the Seawolves scored eight of the half's final 10 points to cut the deficit to two by halftime. Coyote graduate student Giordan Williams (Carson, Calif.) was the only player with double figures in the first half, posting 11 points.

Sonoma State kept it close in the early minutes of the second half, but eventually the Yotes would pull away, going ahead by 10 on and Andrew Henderson (Chatsworth, Calif.) floater eight minutes into the frame to put CSUSB up 51-41. Over the next four minutes, the Seawolves went on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to three at 53-50 with seven and a half minutes to play. 

The Yotes pulled away for good when Sonoma failed to knock down a field goal in the final seven minutes of the contest. CSUSB closed the contest on a 13-2 run en route to the road victory.

Williams finished as the contest's leading scorer with a huge 22-point contest that saw him shoot 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) from the field. Henderson dropped 14 points and six steals against his former team, while Oliver had 10 points, eight boards, and four assists.

CSUSB's win came despite knocking down only two three-pointers, going 2-for-20 (10.0 percent) from beyond the arc. From two-point range however, the Yotes were 24-for-38 (63.2 percent) and 14-of-15 (93.3 percent) from the charity stripe.

Next up for the Yotes, they will head to San Diego County for a CCAA contest against Cal State San Marcos on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.

#GoYotes