Box Score
ROHNERT PARK -- Cal State L.A.'s men's basketball team was unable to repeat its stirring win over Humboldt State on Thursday in its big showdown against Sonoma State on Friday.
In the battle for the final spot in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament, the Golden Eagles dug themselves too big of a hole and saw a late comeback attempt fall short in a 68-60 season-ending loss. Cal State L.A. (12-15, 7-13 CCAA) made a furious comeback after trailing by 21 points with 12 minutes to go, but the Golden Eagles couldn't overcome some faulty shooting and a decisive Seawolf edge on the boards.
No team in the CCAA was able to complete the rugged Humboldt State-Sonoma State roadtrip with a sweep and the Golden Eagles became the latest to fall short. Cal State L.A. posted an impressive 13-point win over Humboldt State on Thursday, but Sonoma State took command quickly and never let the Golden Eagles find any kind of offensive rhythm.
Dwayne Jones got hot late and led the Golden Eagles with 17 points, while
Artis Gant finished with 12 points. Sonoma State's Ben Washington led all scorers with 23 points, while Gerred Link had 13 points.
Sonoma State (12-15, 8-12 CCAA) held a huge 47-26 rebounding edge, including 13 offensive boards. The Seawolves shot 44 percent for the game, while Cal State L.A. shot just 38 percent. It was far worse for the Golden Eagles in the first half when they made only 4-of-23 attempts (17.4 percent) and missed all 10 of their 3-point tries.
The Golden Eagles missed their first 13 attempts from behind the 3-point arc and didn't hit a 3-pointer until Gant made one with 11:12 remaining in the game.
Cal State L.A. scored only 14 points in the first half, but held Sonoma State to only 27 so the game was far from over. The Seawolves, though, opened the second half by scoring the first six points to take a 19-point lead and it was an uphill battle for the Golden Eagles the rest of the way.
The Golden Eagles stayed reasonably close for most of the first half considering their offensive woes. After a basket by
Christofer Hart and a lay-up by
Chris Mark, the Golden Eagles trailed by only three points, 17-14, with 5:15 remaining in the half. The Seawolves, though, held the Golden Eagles scoreless for the remainder of the half and took a 27-14 halftime lead.
Sonoma State scored the first six points of the second half to really break the game open at 33-14 with 18:19 to go. The Seawolves eventually built their lead to 21 points, 45-24, with 12 minutes to go.
The Seawolves still led by 20 points, 49-29, after a lay-up by Washington with 9:39 to go before the Golden Eagles finally started showing some signs of life. When Gant hit a 3-pointer with 5:45 left, the Golden Eagles had used an 11-2 run to slice the deficit to 11 points, 51-40.
Sonoma State's next possession, though, summed up the night for the Golden Eagles. Cal State L.A. forced three missed shots, but the Seawolves grabbed three offensive rebounds to maintain possession and eventually got a free throw by Duane Wright as a result one minute later. The Seawolves got two more free throws and a 3-pointer by Gerred Link to restore a 17-point advantage with 3:35 to go.
Jones promptly hit back-to-back 3-pointers to trim the deficit to 11 points with 2:20 to go and another 3-pointer by Jones and an offensive rebound by Jones got the Golden Eagles to within nine points, but by then only 1:05 remained. A 3-pointer by
Donte Bell and another basket by Jones made it 64-58 with 29 seconds left, but that's as close as the Golden Eagles would get.
Actually, the uphill battle started almost immediately. The Seawolves scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed.
