Men’s basketball powers through weekend

By Brandon Landrum |Staff Writer|

The CSUSB men’s basketball team is still on fire and continues to play great basketball extending their winning streak to six.

The Coyotes played their last two games on the road in Los Angeles against the Golden Eagles of CSU Los Angeles on Feb. 1, and then headed to Carson to take on the Toros of CSU Dominguez Hills on Feb. 2.

The Coyotes were in for a battle against the Golden Eagels, escaping with a 67-66 win in dramatic fashion.

In the first half, the Coyotes got off to a rusty start but quickly bounced back with the help of junior guard Brian Goins and sophomore Jamari Simmons.

Both Goins and Simmons scored nine points. As a team in the first half, the Coyotes shot 13-31 from the field and 5-10 from the three-point line.

The Coyotes went into halftime trailing the Golden Eagles 39-42.

In the second half, the Coyotes decided that they have to come out and be aggressive in order to get the win.
Standing in the Coyotes way of winning was the tough defense of the Golden Eagles.

The Coyotes shot 30 percent from the field in the second half and managed to shoot 66 percent from the free throw line

.Towards the end of the game, the Coyotes had trailed 66-65 with 10 seconds to go with the ball in their possession.

Junior Joshua Gouch put up a shot attempt and missed but Kwame Alexander was there for the last second tip in as the buzzer sounded that lifted the Coyotes to a 67-66 win.

“It was a good win and I’m glad we were able to extend the winning streak. It was hard to get the momentum going but at the end we came out with the victory,” said Alexander.

The Coyotes traveled to Carson for Saturday’s game to take on the Toros of CSU Dominguez Hills.

In the first half, the Coyotes got off to a slow start but picked up the pace as they went on. Goins started off hot in the first half hitting 3-4 from beyond the three-point line and 5-8 from the field leading all scores with 15 points in the first half. Alexander was right behind him with six points.

Going into halftime, the Coyotes were trailing 41-43.

In the second half, the Coyotes got back to their winning traits as they gained momentum and kept rolling.

Alexander led the second half with 15 points and grabbed five rebounds, along with sixth man Simmons who came off the bench scoring eight points. At the end, the Coyotes beat the Toros 80-71.

The Coyotes had three players in double figures: Alexander had 21 points, Goins had 19 points and off the bench Simmons had 15 points.

“It was a good win against CSU Dominguez Hills because they were in third place and it knocked them out of their play,” said Simmons.

With the six game winning streak, the CSUSB men’s basketball team looks to add two more wins this week.
The Coyote will take on the Wildcats of CSU, Chico Feb. 15 and the Warriors of CSU Stanislaus Feb. 16.