LA JOLLA -- The road was not kind to Cal State L.A.'s men's basketball team this weekend and the Golden Eagles dropped its California Collegiate Athletic Association game to UC San Diego on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles (9-15, 7-13 CCAA) managed only 44 points and dropped a 61-44 decision to the Tritons Saturday in RIMAC Arena. Cal State L.A. shot just 32.6 percent and dropped its third straight game.
Joshua Munzon had nine points for the Golden Eagles, while
David Hall had nine points and four rebounds.
LaBradford Franklin had seven points.
Aleks Lipovic had a game-high 22 points for UC San Diego (15-9, 13-7 CCAA), while Adam Klie had 13 points and Hunter Walker had 10 points.
Cal State L.A. was just 15-of-46 for the game, while UC San Diego was 24-of-57 (42.1 percent). The Golden Eagles were 4-of-11 from 3-point range, while the Tritons were 9-of-23. Cal State L.A. was 10-of-17 from the free-throw line, while UC San Diego was 4-of-5.
The Golden Eagles were out-rebounded, 39-29, and committed 11 turnovers to 12 for the Tritons.
Cal State L.A. had only three assists on its 15 baskets, while UC San Diego was only marginally better with nine assists on 24 baskets.
The Golden Eagles got off to a decent start and had a 7-6 lead after a 3-pointer by
Chris Martin and a 12-11 lead after a 3-pointer by Hall. A basket by Franklin tied the game at 14-14. UC San Diego, though, went on an 8-1 run to take the lead for good and Cal State L.A. had an uphill battle the rest of the way.
A 3-pointer by Munzon kept the deficit at 22-18 and two free throws by Hall made it 24-20 before UC San Diego scored five straight points to take a 29-20 halftime lead.
Xavier Jones scored on a layup to open the second half and make it 29-22, but UC San Diego went on a 12-4 run to open up a 41-26 lead. A layup by
Dushon Carter made it 41-28 with 14 minutes remaining, but UC San Diego went on a 10-2 run to open up a 51-30 lead and never looked back.
Cal State L.A. will return to action next Friday with a home game against San Francisco State.
