PORTLAND, Ore. – Central Washington University true freshman Khalil Shabazz scored a game-high 28 points in his collegiate debut, but the Wildcats fell in their season opener against Cal State San Bernardino 62-81 Friday night.
 
The Wildcats start the season 0-1 while the Coyotes improve to 1-1.
 
Shabazz played 31 minutes off the bench and filled the stat sheet with six rebounds, five steals and three assists.
 
Fuquan Niles also scored in double figures with 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting.  Jawan Stepney, Naim Ladd, Malik Montoya and Jerome Bryant rounded out the CWU scoring effort with five points each.
 
The Wildcats tied the score four times in the first 10 minutes of the game, the last coming on a Bryant free throw at the 10:56 mark in the first half, but the Coyotes went on a 13-3 run to take a 10-point lead with 5:23 remaining in the first half.
 
 Shabazz scored on the following three possessions for CWU to cut the lead to three, allowing the Wildcats to stay within six of CSUSB at the half.
 
The Coyotes used a 17-2 run to open the second half, building a 21-point lead with 11:35 to play.  Cal State San Bernardino lead by as many as 26 points in the second stanza to take home the 81-62 victory.
 
Central Washington shot 33.3-percent from the field, 23.8 from behind the arc, while the Coyotes made 44.8-percent of their shots, and were 8 of 20 from long range.
 
The Wildcats will look to even their 2017-18 record when they play Cal State Monterey Bay tomorrow, Nov. 11 at 3 p.m.