SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- The Humboldt State men's basketball team rallied late, but fell short in its final regular season meeting with rival Cal State San Bernardino. The Coyotes pulled out the 82-71 California Collegiate Athletic Association win Saturday evening at Coussoulis Arena.
 
With the loss, the Lumberjacks are 3-2 overall and 0-2 in CCAA play. The Coyotes move to 2-1 overall and have a 2-0 conference mark.
 
HSU committed nine turnovers and trailed by as many as 14 points in the opening half. The Coyotes fed off Lumberjack misses and went on a 16-8 run towards the end of the first period.
 
Cal State San Bernardino's Everett Turner led all scorers in the first 20 minutes of action with 13 points. The Coyotes connected on 20-of-29 first-half attempts and shot a smoldering 69 percent from the field.
 
One HSU bright spot was the bench production. HSU's bench scored 22 of its 32 first-half points as the Green and Gold trailed by nine, 41-32, at the break. Malik Morgan and Brett McConnell each scored seven points in the first half.
 
"They were sharp from the tip and played at a high level offensively," said Head Coach Steve Kinder of Coyotes. "We tried to mix up defenses to keep them off balance, but they continued to frequently get to the foul line and the basket."
 
A McConnell dunk 2:19 into the second half pulled the Jacks within five points, 41-36, but the Coyotes immediately regained their advantage.
 
Cal State San Bernardino extended its lead back to 14, 57-43, with 11:40 remaining in the game thanks to a Turner layup. Turner and Casey Oldemoppen were the Coyotes' top scorers with 17 points apiece in the win.
 
HSU carried a 13-5 run under the two-minute mark as David Howard converted a pair of free throws to narrow the gap to four, 74-70.
 
The Green and Gold's press slowed the Coyote offense and the Jacks collected six second-half steals. Calvin Young II finished with a team-best two steals.
 
Cal State San Bernardino went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the closing minutes to put the game out of reach and sweep the regular season series.
 
"I thought we showed courage and a lot of poise to come back," said Kinder. "We called upon them to play 94 feet in press when we were behind and I thought we really stepped up and showed some character. We didn't give up even when the chips were down."
 
 
Four Jacks reached double-digit scoring totals in the loss. Allan Guei and Morgan scored a team-high 13 points, Howard added 12 points and McConnell chipped in 10. Morgan came off the bench and was 5-for-10 from the field and grabbed a pair of rebounds.
 
HSU narrowly won the rebound battle 29-28 and McConnell compiled a team-high seven boards. In the loss, the Green and Gold shot 42 percent from the field and 21 percent from beyond the arc.
 
HSU continues its search for conference win No. 1 as it travels to San Francisco State on Friday, Dec. 5. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
 
"Things won't get any easier, but a 0-2 conference record to start the season is not a death sentence," said Kinder. "We need to shore up some of our stances and our team defensive rotations so we can get stops early in games."