MONMOUTH, Ore. – Central Washington Men's Basketball fall to #9 Cal State San Bernardino 64-61 Saturday night in the GNAC/CCAA Challenge.

QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA
"It was good to see we are capable of defending that way. We put ourselves in position to beat the best team on the West Coast. Unfortunately, we just had too many turnovers to capitalize."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams started the game out slow, trading misses. For the Wildcats, Xavier Kamalu-Vargas sparked the offense with a driving score. Then, forced a turnover and took it to the other end for the layup. Both teams played hard, drew fouls, and got to the free-throw line. CWU went 6/7 from the charity stripe in the half, while CSUSB went 7/9.

The turning point of the half came when Kamalu-Vargas sunk a reverse layup, and a Coyote over-the-back call gave Matt Poquette two free throws, which he sank to tie it up at 24 a piece with five minutes remaining. Isaiah Banks drove hard into a defender and finished the play plus a free throw giving the Wildcats the lead. The Wildcats would finish the half up 33-29.

The second half was fast paced. For the 'Cats, Samaad Hector converted a layup and then Camron McNeil hit a three, his third of the night giving CWU the 43-38 lead. The Coyotes would storm back with two layups to tie it at 47, the 'Cats would respond with their own five-point flurry via a three from Isaiah Banks and a Gennett layup, taking the lead 52-47 with 9 minutes remaining.

Down the stretch it was close but costly turnovers with under a minute left led to four points for the Coyotes and ultimately the victory. CSUSB had 38 points in the paint and 22 bench points. Brandon Knapper led the Coyotes with 21 points and Dontrell Shuler added 15. The Wildcats shot 37.5% from the field and 35% from three. In the loss, three cats had nine points: Kamalu Vargas, Gennett, and Banks.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats travel to San Diego California to take on Cal State San Marcos Thursday, November 17th at 7 P.M.