TURLOCK — Kyi Thomas led Stanislaus State with 19 points and the Warriors survived the night despite tough times on the free throw line as they beat Cal State San Bernardino, 68-64, Thursday night at Fitzpatrick Arena.

Thomas also grabbed seven rebounds to go with a 7-for-13 shooting night to lead the Warriors to 2-3 overall and 1-0 California Collegiate Athletic Association records.

Vondel Faniel posted the season's first double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and Christian Bayne chipped in 11 points with seven assists. Kyle Gouveia also grabbed 10 boards as the Warriors out-rebounded San Bernardino, 47-31, including 15 offensive rebounds.

Cal State San Bernardino, which opened the CCAA season 0-2 (2-3 overall), was led by Keith Smith's 11 points and six assists. Zeke DeBlase and Juan Martinez each had 10 points.

In a typical tight game, it all came down to the foul line — and both teams had their chances to pull away from the charity stripe. In the final 43 seconds, teams combined to miss five free throws that could have easily changed the out-come of the game.

Martinez could have tied the game for CSUSB with 30 seconds left but he made just one of two free throws. DeBlase also could've tied the game with 17 seconds left, but also only hit one of two. On the other end, the Warriors had numerous opportunities late to extend the slim lead but was not able to do so. 

The key sequence that ultimately sealed the deal for Stan State was after a DeBlase missed free throw. Thomas pulled the rebound and out-let pass to Gouveia for a fast-break slam dunk to make it 67-64 with 10.8 ticks left.

Stan State shot just 52 percent from the free throw line (13 for 25) and San Bernardino was not much better at 15 for 27 for 55.6 percent. Even Bayne was affected as he snapped a streak of 16 consecutive free throws made by missing his first try late in the game.

The game got close late in the second half after Stanislaus had built a lead as large as 11 points. An 11-0 run halfway through the half turned a three-point deficit into an eight-point lead in a rally capped by a Thomas three-pointer at 7:42. Stephen Evans started a 9-2 run with a trey at 4:53 that ended up with a pair of free throws by Thomas to give the Warriors that 63-52 lead with 2:39 to go.

But a 9-0 Coyotes spurt turned the game into the free throw contest in the final minute.

Saturday night, the Warriors will look to start 2-0 in CCAA play with a 7:30 p.m. game at San Francisco State.