The Coyote basketball team fought their way to a much needed victory Monday afternoon as they took down the Copper Mountain College, Fighting Cacti with an 82-77 conference win. The Coyotes fell behind early in the contest but battled their way back into the game by taking a 36-33 lead into halftime. From that point, the Coyotes planned a strategic attack to pull away from CMC in the second half, and a 10 point lead late in the game. However the Fighting Cacti would not back down easily and were able to pull within 3 points with minutes remaining forcing the Coyotes to stand their ground to maintain the late lead and eventually winning by a 5 point margin. 

Cerro Coso (14-4, 4-3) is set to take on College of the Desert (12-7, 4-3) on Wednesday night, with a 6:00 pm tipoff. Both teams enter the contest knotted up in a three way tie for fourth place, along with Victor Valley, as each team holds a 4-3 IEAC record. COD is coming off of a couple of tough losses and is sure to come into Raymond McCue Gymnasium seeking a conference win. Coach Dugan is happy with where his team is positioned at this point in the season and admits that these next few conference match ups will play a pivotal role in the Coyotes chances for a post season run. The IEAC men's basketball competition has seen a high caliber of play in this inaugural season, and Cerro Coso looks to make a run to the finish line. Join the Coyotes this Wednesday for some basketball action, #MakeYourMark.