Box Score

LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s men's basketball team earned a much-needed California Collegiate Athletic Association victory Friday and the Golden Eagles did it the hard way.

 

The Golden Eagles rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to force overtime and then pulled away for a 71-61 win over Cal State East Bay Friday night in the Eagles Nest. Cal State L.A. (13-10, 9-10 CCAA) outscored the Pioneers, 15-5, in the extra period.

 

Cal State L.A. remains in a sixth-place tie with Chico State in the conference, while Cal State Stanislaus is one game back and Cal State Monterey Bay and Sonoma State are two games further back. The top eight teams will qualify for the CCAA Championship Tournament.

 

Chris Robinson had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Golden Eagles, 19 of the points coming after halftime. Franklin Session had 17 points and nine rebounds despite battling foul trouble for most of the game and Carl Hoffman had 15 points and eight rebounds. The Golden Eagles also welcomed back Leland Jones, who had seven points and nine rebounds in his first sustained outing since early January.

 

Mark Samuels had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead Cal State East Bay (4-19, 2-17 CCAA), while Will Freedman had 12 points.

 

Cal State L.A. shot just 32.3 percent for the game (21-of-65), but made 4-of-7 in the overtime period. Cal State East Bay shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52).

 

The Golden Eagles had a 54-40 rebounding edge and forced 16 turnovers while committing only 11. Cal State L.A. was 26-of-48 from the free-throw line, including 6-of-9 in the overtime period to help put the game away. Cal State East Bay was 13-of-26 from the line.

 

The Golden Eagles struggled mightily in the first half, making only 8-of-29 field-goal attempts and falling behind by as many as 15 points late in the first half. A pair of free throws by Hoffman and a tip-in by Robinson got the Golden Eagles to within 11 points, 32-21, at halftime.

 

Cal State East Bay led by as many as 15 points two more times in the second half, the final time at 42-27, with 13 minutes to go. The Pioneers still had a 13-point lead with 10 minutes remaining and a 10-point edge, 47-37, with nine minutes left.

 

Cal State L.A. then embarked on a 7-0 run to finally get back into the contest. Two free throws by Hoffman, a free throw by Jones and driving layups by Robinson and Session made it 47-44 with seven minutes left.

 

A 3-pointer by Robinson tied it at 49-49 with four minutes remaining and a layup by Hoffman off a pass from Bussey Ellis gave the Golden Eagles a 51-49 lead.

 

The Pioneers tied it at 54-54 after a three-point play by Samuels and then took a 56-54 lead with one minute left on a layup by Roshun Wynne. Session, though, was fouled after an offensive rebound and made both free throws to tie it at 56-56. Both teams missed shots in the final 20 seconds to send the game into overtime.

 

A tip-in by Hoffman and a layup by Session gave the Golden Eagles a quick 60-56 lead in overtime. Two free throws by Samuel brought the Pioneers to within 61-59, but the Golden Eagles got a layup by Robinson and a 3-pointer by Robinson to boost the lead to 66-59 with two minutes left.

 

After Samuels scored on a layup, the Golden Eagles hit five of six free throws in the final minute to put the game away.

 

Cal State L.A. will play its final home game of the season on Saturday night against UC San Diego and honor seniors Session, David Norris and Ryan Wetherell in pre-game ceremonies.