Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO -- Cal State L.A.'s men's basketball team had another game with San Francisco State go down to the wire, only this time the Golden Eagles did not like the ending.
The Golden Eagles came up empty in their last three possessions and dropped a heartbreaker to San Francisco State, 69-67, in a California Collegiate Athletic Association contest Friday night in Main Gymnasium. Cal State L.A. (10-12, 5-10 CCAA) dropped its sixth straight game and fell two games behind San Francisco State in the conference standings.
Cal State L.A. had beaten San Francisco State on a last-second shot by
Artis Gant in the Eagles Nest last month, but there were no last-minute heroics by the Golden Eagles in this one. After Gant hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 67-67 with 1:25 remaining, Cal State L.A. turned the ball over in back-to-back possessions.
After the first turnover, Robert Hayes was fouled and hit two free throws for the Gators with 25 seconds to go. Those proved to be the game-winning points. After the Golden Eagles' second turnover with eight seconds remaining, the Gators turned the ball over, giving Cal State L.A. a final chance. Bell's jumper with three seconds to go missed and San Francisco State got the rebound and ran out the clock.
Chris Mark had 13 points and five rebounds to lead a balanced Cal State L.A. attack.
Dwayne Jones also had 13 points and Bell had 12 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Christofer Hart and
Tyler Polo had nine points each.
Alex Thomas had 15 points to lead four San Francisco State players in double figures. Hayes finished with 14 points, Darryl Robinson had 13 points and Martin Flores had 10 points.
Cal State L.A. shot 46.4 percent for the game, but made only eight of 27 field-goal attempts in the second half. San Francisco State shot 45.5 percent for the game and the Gators also enjoyed a significant 37-29 rebounding edge.
Both teams came out sizzling in the first half. Cal State L.A. shot 62.1 percent in the opening half, connecting on 18 of its 29 attempts, while San Francisco State made 53.3 percent.
San Francisco State got out of the gates quickly and opened up its biggest lead of the first half at 8-2 before the Golden Eagles rebounded and got back into the contest. The Golden Eagles built leads as large as three points, while San Francisco State surged late in the half to take a 42-37 edge.
Dwayne Jones, though, hit a jumper and then knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game at halftime, 42-42.
Cal State L.A. carried that momentum into the second half and built its biggest lead of the game, 59-49, after a layup by Mark with 10:49 remaining. San Francisco State, though, responded with a 12-2 run to tie the game at 61-61 with 6:24 to go.
From there, it was a struggle with both teams finding it hard to score. Polo hit a pair of free throws to give the Golden Eagles a 63-61 lead, but San Francisco State came back and scored the next four points to take the lead.
A free throw by Bell made it 65-64 before Hayes hit a layup to give San Francisco State a 67-64 edge with 1:59 to go. Gant took care of that deficit with his 3-pointer with 1:25 to go, but the Golden Eagles didn't score again.
Cal State L.A. will conclude its road trip with a game at Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday night in Seaside.
