Coyotes play Westmont College in Veterans Day exhibition basketball game in Palm Desert

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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Cal State San Bernardino's men's basketball team - the 2008-2009 California Collegiate Athletic Association tri-champion and winner of the 2009 CCAA conference tournament - will play Westmont College in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Xavier College Prep High School in Palm Desert.

The Veterans Day game represents the second straight year that the Coyotes have brought NCAA Division II basketball to the greater Palm Springs-Indio area, home to CSUSB's Palm Desert Campus. CSUSB defeated Azusa Pacific last year in a game at College of the Desert.

The Coyotes, coming off a 20-10 season (15-5 in CCAA play), return one starter in senior guard Lawrence Tyson and have added several new players in a strong recruiting effort to match the quality of the team's performances over the past 10 years.

CSUSB has won or shared eight conference titles in the last 10 years and advanced to the NCAA tournament in nine of those 10 years. The Coyotes have won three NCAA Division II West Region titles and advanced to the Final Four in 2007.

Tyson averaged 9.1 points and dished off 71 assists last season for the Coyotes. Another Coyote veteran returning after a year's absence is Steve Gaston, a 6-1 guard who averaged 5.0 points a game in 2007-2008 and 6-foot, 7-inch center Davon Davis (4.8 ppg, 2.6 rebounds a game) in 2007-2008.

Greg "Cadillac" Williams, a member of the 2006-2007 West Region champion team that advanced to the NCAA Final Four, returns after averaging 5.6 points and 2.5 rebounds a game for that team. Also back is 6-6 wing Ryan Kinney of Beaumont, who shot 42 percent from the three-point line and had a career-high 21 points last season against Alaska-Fairbanks.

The top newcomers are 6-8 Bryan LeDuc, who was the Big West Conference "Sixth Man of the Year" in 2009 at University of Pacific where he averaged 11.4 points and 4.5 rebounds a game; Aaron Hill, an all-state junior college guard from Fresno City College; David Jefferson, a 6-6 forward from Imperial Valley College who averaged 10 points and 6.2 rebounds a game and Corey Caston, a 5-11 point guard from Pasadena City College who averaged 14 points and eight assists a game with 92 steals in 2008-09.

Westmont's Warriors are coming off a 16-14 season in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and were 10-10 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The team is led by 6-6 junior Dan Rasp, an all-GSAC selection who averaged 16 points and five rebounds per game last season and Andrew Schmalbach, a 6-3 senior guard who averaged nine points a game.

CSUSB-Westmont exhibition quick facts

WHAT: College exhibition men's basketball game
WHO: Cal State San Bernardino Vs. Westmont College
WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Xavier College Preparatory High School, 34-200 Cook St., Palm Desert, just north of Interstate 10
VENUE: Xavier's state of the art, 45,000 square foot gymnasium (2,000 seating)
ADMISSION: Free.
PARKING: Free.
INFORMATION: (909) 537-3076, (760) 341-2883, ext. 78104

Visit the CSUSB athletics Web site for more information

Cal State San Bernardino's men's basketball team will play Westmont College in an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Xavier College Prep High School in Palm Desert.