The Cerro Coso Men's basketball team welcomed California Community College Athletic Association No. 6 ranked San Bernardino Valley on Monday, January 9th for an Inland Empire Athletic Conference matchup. In a close game the Coyotes came up close to upsetting the Wolverines but fell short in 70-61 home loss. Head Coach Chris Dugan spoke on his team's performance.

"It was a tough one. You play back and forth for 36 minutes," he said. "We always break down the second half, we cut them into segments 16, 12, eight, and four. You have to win more segments. Most important segments of the game is the first four minutes and last four minutes, we did not execute in the last four minutes. We had turnovers, offensive rebounds, they made shots, and they made the big plays. They are good team and its a reason why they are ranked top five in the State of California. They are going to the Elite Eight and they are going to have a chance to compete for a state championship. They do a good job and I told my guys there is nothing wrong to hang your heads. But in big games you have to make plays. There are a couple of them and I'm not mad at them for not making it but its a big game. Its a defining moment."

The Coyotes offense shot the ball 43.8 percent from the field, 47.6 percent from the three point line, and 69.2 percent from the free throw line. The Coyotes defense held San Bernardino Valley to 43.8 percent from the field, 23.5 percent from the three point line, and 58.8 percent from the free throw line. But the Coyotes lost to the Wolverines in every category being out rebounded 37-23 including giving up 17 offensive rebounds with a few plays seeing the Wolverines grab five or six offensive boards. Cerro Coso lost in assists 12-9, steals 7-3, blocks 7-2, and turnovers 12-7.

"Step up in competition against better teams. Rebounding is just want and effort nothing else besides that," Dugan said about his team losing the rebounding battle. "Want and effort. And they wanted it more than us, all those second chances and going to get it. Sometimes its not about blocking out, sometimes you just go get it and they went and got it."

Jordan Howard led the Coyotes in scoring with 20 points, led in assists with three, and grabbed five rebounds. Destin Jenkins scored 13 points off the bench and co-led the team with a high of six rebounds. Sincere Edwards grabbed six rebounds, and with Nate Jackson and Adam Claybourne Jr. had a steal each.

"Its tough when you lose at home. You kind of kill yourself for a league championship. It was there for the taking and that is the reason it stung us. Losing at home hurts and we lost at home. You want to win the games at home in league and go 500 on the road. We just came up a little bit short tonight but we need to go get some wins. We need some quality wins, we need to beat some good opponents and just go from there."

The Coyotes and Wolverines began the game trading baskets with the Coyotes jumping out to a 9-5 lead. But San Bernardino Valley than went on a 7-0 run to take the lead until Howard hit a three to tie the game at 12-12. The Wolverines went on a 5-0 run until Jenkins scored on a layup to halt the run and cut the deficit to 17-14. San Bernardino Valley scored the next four points with help from grabbing offensive rebounds and getting second and third chances. The Coyotes made a run with back to back threes from Jenkins and back to back baskets from Howard to cut the Wolverines lead to one, 25-24. In the final two minutes the Coyotes scored three points with Claybourne hitting one of two free throws and a jump shot from Jenkins to go into the half trailing by two at 29-27.

To start the second half, Claybourne hits a corner three to cut the San Bernardino Valley lead to one, 31-30, after the Wolverines hit a layup. A layup from Howard kept the Coyotes within one of their opponent, and after the Wolverines scored Howard hit both his free throws to keep them within one, 35-34. Cerro Coso had a chance to tie the game, but Edwards hit one of two free throws to stay within one, and after the Wolverines hit on a jump shot Jenkins tied the game at 38-38 with a corner three. San Bernardino Valley scored the next four points to retake the lead but Jackson cut the deficit to one on a three from the top of the key. The Coyotes had their first lead since the first half when Jalen Williams hit both his free throws for a 43-42 lead with 11:19 left to play. Williams extended the lead with a baseline layup but the visitors scored to cut the lead to 45-44. Claybourne responded by getting fouled on a layup attempt and went to the charity stripe to hit both his attempts for a 47-44 lead. San Bernardino Valley went down and scored after grabbing the offensive rebound to cut the lead to one, and the Coyotes responded with Jackson hitting on a fadeaway for a 49-46 lead. Jackson scored and was fouled on a layup but missed the free throw for a 51-48 lead. The Wolverines responded and went on a 8-0 run to retake the lead and during the run the Coyotes struggled to score with a few open looks and layups rolling out. Jackson ended the Coyotes cold spell when he hit a jump shot to keep his team close trailing 56-53. A corner three from Williams saw the Coyotes trail by one at 57-56 with 4:33 left on the clock. But again the Coyotes went on a cold streak where the visitors scored the next six points until Williams scored on a hook shot to cut the deficit to 63-58. Howard hit a three with seven seconds left on the clock but the Coyotes came up short.

The loss puts the Coyotes at 3-2 and in fourth pace in Inland Empire Athletic Conference standing. It was also the first loss at home in conference for the Coyotes, and Dugan spoke on how that changes their mentality for conference.

"Its tough when you lose at home. You kind of kill yourself for a league championship," he said. "It was there for the taking and that is the reason it stung us. Losing at home hurts and we lost at home. You want to win the games at home in league and go 500 on the road. We just came up a little bit short tonight but we need to go get some wins. We need some quality wins, we need to beat some good opponents and just go from there."

Looking ahead, Dugan spoke on what he wants to see from his players as they look to bounce back from a home conference loss.

"Twenty-fours just don't feel sorry. You can sulk and do whatever but you have to move on. You have to be focused," the Coyotes coach said. "It's frustrating and we are dealing with 18-22 year old kids who get mad. But they have to stay locked in, they have to finish strong. We worked really hard since August 18th, do not pack it in or whatever. I tell them they have to play 28 times a year and you have to enjoy every time you play."

The Coyotes are on the road for their next Inland Empire Athletic Conference game visiting Copper Mountain on Saturday. Tip off for the game is 3 p.m. Cerro Coso return home on Wednesday, January 18th when they host Desert with tip off at 5 p.m.