CSUSB men now 2-1 in CCAA; outrebound Cal State Stanislaus 51-42

Mike Murphy, SID

Lawrence Tyson
1/2/2009 11:48:24 PM

Cal State San Bernardino’s men’s basketball team, playing its first home game since Nov. 16, impressed 447 fans in Coussoulis Arena with its firepower and defense en route to a 92-68 CCAA conference win over Cal State Stanislaus on Friday night.

The Coyotes, 2-1 in the CCAA and 4-5 overall, took a 37-28 lead at the half on Brandon Brown’s buzzer-beater dunk and never looked back in defeating the Warriors for the fifth straight time in the 22nd time in their last 28 meetings.     

CSUSB will host Chico State Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. 

Brown led all scorers with 16 points and notched his third straight double double with 10 rebounds in just 24 minutes of play. Junior Lawrence Tyson had 15 points while Devin Montgomery contributed 11 points and six assists off the bench and senior DuBois Williams had a solid, all-around night with 10 points, a season-high 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot. 

Benny Koochoie led the Warriors with 15 points and three assists. Michael Dyson had 12 points and five rebounds. Leading scorer Matt Ibewiro had just four points on two of 13 shooting against a tough CSUSB defense but contributed seven rebounds and three steals. 

The Coyotes shot 48 percent (38 of 77) and made 11 of 32 three-pointers (34 percent) while making nine of 13 foul shots. The Warriors made 41 percent of their shots and were eight of 17 from the three (47 percent) but made just eight of 15 free throws (53 percent).

CSUSB outrebounded the visitors 51-42. 

Stanislaus led by as many as six points in the first half, up 17-11 on a layup by Casey Cutts, but the Coyotes rallied to tie the game at 21 on a layup by Tavaris Gilbert, then outscored the Warriors 16-7 for a 37-28 halftime lead. 

The Coyotes opened up a 12-point lead at 65-53 on a jumper by Michael Lucas after Stanislaus pulled to within seven at 52-45 on a layup by Ibewiro. CSUSB expanded the lead to 79-58 with 3:44 left in the game on a three-pointer by senior Reggie Brown. 

The Coyotes got 39 points from their bench in the contest and outscored Stanislaus 30-16 in the paint and had 17 second-chance points to just seven for the Warriors.