LANGLEY, British Columbia - The California State University San Bernardino men's basketball team suffered a 71-63 defeat at the hands of #18 Central Washington University in its season opener Friday at the Langley Events Centre.

With the defeat, the Coyotes open their season with a record of 0-1.

The Yotes held a narrow 33-31 advantage at the break, thanks in part to holding the Wildcats to just 33.3 percent shooting (10-for-30). Senior guard Javon Ervin (Tacoma, Wash.) poured in a team-high eight points before the break. Twenty-one of CSUSB's 33 points came from the bench, thanks to seven points each from reserves Kaylon Mason (Fresno, Calif.) and Zion Paleo (Diamond Bar, Calif.).

Cal State San Bernardino opened up their largest lead at seven points (40-33) on an Xavier Clinton (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) triple two minutes into the second half, before the Wildcats began to chisel away at the Coyote advantage.

Central Washington took their first lead since seven minutes remaining in the first half six and a half minutes into the second at 45-44, but the Yotes responded with an 8-1 run capped by an Amound Anderson II (Gardena, Calif.) three-pointer to regain a six-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.

The Coyotes, however, would not score again for over five minutes of game action after Anderson's triple, and Central Washington went on a 10-0 run to take control, and would never trail again.

Anderson's 12 points off the bench led the Coyotes, while sophomore point guard Aidan Fowler (San Clemente, Calif.) added 10 points of his own despite foul trouble keeping him to just 17 minutes.

Next up for the Coyotes, they will be right back in action on Saturday with an 11 a.m. tipoff against Western Washington in Canada.
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