CARSON -- Cal State L.A.'s men's basketball team got its California Collegiate Athletic Association schedule off to a winning start in a game that got a lot more interesting than the Golden Eagles would have liked.

The Golden Eagles built a 24-point second-half lead and then had to hang on for a 70-59 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills Saturday night in the Torodome. Cal State L.A. (2-1, 1-0 CCAA) had a 56-32 lead before Cal State Dominguez Hills (3-3, 0-1 CCAA) scored 21 consecutive points to make the game close. The Golden Eagles responded well down the stretch and eventually found their footing for the 11-point victory.

Aaron Alston led three Golden Eagles in double figures with 16 points and five rebounds, while LaBradford Franklin had 15 points, seven assists and six steals. Dustin Watts had 13 points.
 
Darnell Martin had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Toros, while Ivan Dooley had 15 points and seven rebounds.

Cal State L.A. shot 48.1 percent for the game (25-of-52), while the Toros were 20-of-50 (40.8 percent). The Golden Eagles were efficient from 3-point range and made 8-of-17 attempts from behind the arc, while the Toros were just 2-of-13 (15.4 percent). Cal State L.A. was 12-of-15 from the free-throw line, while Cal State Dominguez Hills was 17-of-30.

The Golden Eagles led for most of the game and had double-digit advantages for a large stretch before the Toros went on their 21-0 run.

After Justin Snavely hit a jumper to break an 11-11 tie, the Golden Eagles led the rest of the way. A 3-pointer by Franklin and a tip-in by Alston gave the Golden Eagles an 18-12 lead and a three-point play by Andre McPhail boosted the advantage to 26-13. The Golden Eagles took their biggest lead of the first half after a 3-pointer by Joshua Munzon made it 36-20 and Cal State L.A. settled for a 36-24 halftime lead.

The Golden Eagles opened the second half with a 20-8 spurt that gave them their biggest lead at 56-32. The Golden Eagles did most of their damage from behind the 3-point arc. A 3-pointer by Alston made it 44-26, a 3-pointer by Snavely made it 49-28 and another 3-pointer by Alston made it 52-30. When Watts scored on a layup, the Golden Eagles had their 56-32 lead with 12:47 to go.

Cal State L.A., though, didn't score again until a Watts jumper made it 58-53 with 4:11 to go. A steal and layup by Munzon was a big play and made it 60-53 and a 3-pointer by Watts all but settled matters, giving the Golden Eagles a 63-53 lead with 2:07 left.

Franklin hit two free throws to give the Golden Eagles a 65-55 lead with 56 seconds to go and a steal and layup by Franklin made it 67-55 with just 37 seconds remaining.

Cal State L.A. will return to action on Friday with a home conference game against Cal State Stanislaus.