Late-Game Scoring by Cal State San Bernardino Dooms Toros Men
February 23, 2007

Courtesy Cal State San Bernardino Sports Information Office

Complete Box Score

SAN BERNARDINO -- Cal State San Bernardino outscored Cal State Dominguez Hills 16-8 over the final 2:44 of the game Friday night to post an 84-75 CCAA conference win over the Toros before 655 fans in Coussoulis Arena on Faculty-Staff Appreciation Night.

The victory kept the Coyotes just one game back of CCAA leader Humboldt State with three games left starting Saturday night at home against UC San Diego, which was beaten 68-65 by Cal Poly Pomona Friday night.

The Coyotes, ranked No. 2 in the West Region and No. 16 in the nation, are now 19-5 overall and 15-4 in the CCAA, trailing the Lumberjacks -- 21-3 overall and 16-3. HSU, ranked No. 1 in the West Region and No. 6 in the nation, plays Cal State L.A. Saturday night at home.

The Toros record dipped to 10-14 overall and 7-12 in the CCAA as they prepare to face Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday night.

Senior guard Prentice Harris paced the Coyotes attack with 21 points, hitting five of seven shots from the three. Senior Yoseph Yaisrael had a career-high 19 points while center Ivan Johnson had 14 points four rebounds and three steals. Marlon Pierce had 11 points and three steals.

Carlos Rivers had a game-high 24 points, making four of six three-point attempts. Shamont Brown had 19 points and a game-high nine rebounds while Jonathan Toliver had 12 points and five assists.

The Coyotes led 42-37 at the half and were up by 11 points, 61-50 with 9:21 left in the game on a three-pointer by David Reichel, but the Toros fought their way back into the fray, outscoring the Coyotes 17-8 to trail just 69-67 with 3:28 to go on a three-pointer by Brown.

However, the Coyotes' Chet Johnson scored on a layup off an offensive rebound, Pierce drained a three-pinter and Yaisrael made two free throws for a 76-69 lead with 2:14 left. Harris then sank four foul shots for an 80-69 advantgage with 1:01 left.

The Coyotes shot 42.4 percent for the game, well below their season average of 49 percent, hitting just 12 of 33 in the second half (36 percent) but the team made 13 of 26 three-pointers (50 percent) and sank 15 of 19 free throws (79 percent).

Defensively, the Coyotes forced 21 turnovers and made 18 steals.

The Toros shot 60 percent for the game (28 of 47) and 50 percent from the three (seven of 14) and made 80 percent of their foul shots (12 of 15) but couldn't sustain the comeback.

Rivers was eight for 13 from the field but the Toros took 19 less shots than CSUSB.

In fact, Rivers got the Toros off to a hot start, leading 10-4 in the first four minutes of the game, but the Coyotes came back and took a 33-22 lead with 6:45 left in the half on a three-pointer by Harris.

Jamel Barnes' three-point play closed the gap to five at the half, 42-37.