SAN MARCOS -- Cal State LA's men's basketball team faced an uphill battle, to say the least, when it trailed Cal State San Marcos by 16 points with just more than 13 minutes remaining in Saturday's California Collegiate Athletic Association contest.
The Golden Eagles, though, stormed back with a 19-0 run and hit some late free throws to stun the Cougars, 59-55, at Mira Costa College. Cal State LA (6-15, 5-10 CCAA) won its third straight game and picked up its first road win of the season. The Golden Eagles also now occupy the eighth position in qualifying for the CCAA Championship Tournament. The top eight teams will advance to the postseason tourney.
Cal State San Marcos (12-8, 9-5 CCAA) held a 47-31 lead with 13:30 to go, but then went more than eight minutes without a basket and saw its lead ultimately erased.
Duce Zaid had a game-high 22 points for the Golden Eagles, 18 of them coming in the final 13 minutes of the game.
Joshua Munzon had nine points and five rebounds,
Jonathan Davis had eight points and hit all four of his field-goal attempts.
Andre McPhail,
Joshua Hopkins and
Brandon Hitchman had five points each.
Akachi Okugo had 20 points for the Cougars, while Taran Brown had nine points.
The Golden Eagles trailed, 47-31, with 13:34 to go after Okugo hit a 3-pointer. Zaid then started the comeback run with a layup and, after a steal by Hopkins, converted a three-point play to make it 47-36. Hitchman followed with a 3-pointer to make it 47-39 and consecutive layups by Zaid and Davis cut the margin to 47-43. Hopkins then scored on an offensive rebound and basket and two free throws by Zaid tied it at 47-47.
Zaid hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to finish the 19-0 run and give Cal State LA a 50-47 lead with 5:28 to go. That turned out to be the Golden Eagles' final basket. Okugo hit another 3-pointer to tie it, but two free throws by Zaid and another by
Dushon Carter gave the Golden Eagles a 53-50 lead with 3:35 to go. Cal State San Marcos then got a game-tying 3-pointer by Darnell Taylor and a layup by Andrew Bournes to take a 55-53 lead with 1:43 to go.
Munzon, though, hit two free throws with 38 seconds left to tie it and, after a defensive stop, Zaid was fouled and hit two free throws with 10 seconds left to give the Golden Eagles the lead. After a Cal State LA foul, Zaid grabbed the rebound of a missed free throw, was fouled, and made both free throws to account for the final points of the game with five seconds to go.
Cal State LA will return to action next Saturday at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
