Box Score SAN BERNARDINO – On a night when one of the region's best teams thought it would coast to victory, a young and feisty Humboldt State squad had other plans.
 
The Lumberjacks gave the No. 7 ranked Coyotes of CSU San Bernardino all it could handle. HSU held the lead with 9:23 left in the game, but the highly-talented CSU San Bernardino team fended off its foe for an 82-70 win and went to a perfect 13-0 in California Collegiate Athletic Association action.
 
"We felt like we won the fight, we won the battle, but we just didn't win the game," said HSU head coach Steve Kinder. "We were able to come up with every hard rebound and every loose ball on the floor."
 
The highly-contested game saw nine ties and a visiting program give its all.
 
"Our Lumberjacks held their heads high coming off the floor. We gave them more than serious scare tonight," added the HSU coach. "It was a game of punches and one that went back-and-forth. It came down to who could stand each team's momentum change."
 
The Jacks (8-11/3-10 CCAA) claimed the rebounding edge, 38-33, but the seventh-rated Coyotes' Jordan Burris was near perfect in his game-best 29-point night. Burris hit eight of 10 from the floor and all five 3-pointers along with each of the eight free throws he attempted. He also had a game-high nine rebounds.
 
Despite not practicing this week, David Howard dropped 20 points through the net to pace the Jacks' attack to go with five rebounds and three steals.
 
Allan Guei drained seven of 14 shots for 18 points. Jordan Mackie added nine tallies and Derrick Buchanan seven boards.
 
Freshman center Jermain Wilson gave a big first half boost to the HSU lineup with six points, a season-high, and four rebounds.
 
CSU San Bernardino ran its winning streak to 16 games and 16-1 overall.
 
HSU started strong with a 6-2 lead after a Brandon Pomrehn jumper two minutes into the night.
 
The Coyotes showed their scoring prowess with the next 15 points to open a 17-6 advantage.
 
HSU answered back with its own 12-0 spurt to retake the lead, 18-17, with nine minutes elapsed.
 
A Guei layup pushed the visitors back in front, 38-36, nine minutes later only to have CSU San Bernardino finish strong to make it 44-38 at half.
 
Starting with the opening two buckets of the second half, the difference grew to 10 points, 48-38, before HSU made it clear it wasn't backing down.
 
Down 51-40, the Jacks score 20 of the next 26 points. Guei's two free throws on the second CSU San Bernardino bench technical foul made it 60-57 in HSU's favor with 11:28 remaining.
 
Howard would give HSU what turned out to be its last lead on a pair of foul shots, 62-61, with 9:23 in the game.
 
Over the next two possessions, the Coyotes made their next four shots from the charity stripe and allowed the Jacks no closer than a point, 65-64, the final nine minutes.
 
HSU will try to earn the weekend split on Saturday night when it plays UC San Diego in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.