CHICO -- Cal State LA's men's basketball team turned in a performance for the record books Tuesday night in a California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament game at Chico State.
The Golden Eagles held Chico State to just 26 percent shooting and became only the second No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in a 54-37 victory over the Wildcats in Acker Gym. Cal State LA (11-17) beat the Wildcats for the second time in four days and advances to the conference semi-finals for only the second time in program history. Cal State LA was 1-10 in 11 previous tournament games before Tuesday's stunner.
While defense was certainly the order of the day,
Duce Zaid was tremendous and dominated the game with 26 points and 15 rebounds.
Joshua Munzon had 11 points and the duo's 37 points equalled Chico State's output.
The 37 points scored by Chico State were the fewest since the Wildcats were beaten by De Paul, 77-37, on Dec. 3, 1984. The 26.2 percent shooting was the lowest for the Wildcats since January of 2013.
The Golden Eagles scored the first five points of the game and never trailed. Chico State was able to tie the game early in the second half, but Cal State LA went on a 9-0 run and never looked back.
Cal State LA shot 48.8 percent (20-of-41) and held Chico State to just 15-of-67 shooting. The Golden Eagles were 9-of-21 from 3-point range and the Wildcats were just 1-of-13. The Golden Eagles were 5-of-9 from the free-throw line, while the Wildcats were 6-of-15.
Cal State LA, which was out-rebounded by a large margin in a 65-64 win over Chico State in the Eagles Nest on Saturday, turned the tables on Tuesday. The Golden Eagles had a 40-30 rebounding edge over a taller Chico State team.
Zaid scored the first five points of the game to get the Golden Eagles off to a good start. After a 3-pointer by Zaid, the Golden Eagles led 11-2.
Chico State responded with an 11-2 run to tie it at 13-13, but Zaid hit another 3-pointer to break the tie. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Munzon gave the Golden Eagles a 24-17 lead and Cal State LA settled for a 24-20 halftime lead.
After Chico State tied it at 26-26 early in the second half, Cal State LA went on a 9-0 run to take the lead for good.
Geoffrey Frid started the run with a basket, Munzon scored five straight points and
Dushon Carter scored to make it 35-26. Chico State closed to within 37-34 with 5:50 left, but the Golden Eagles closed the game out with a 13-3 run to secure the win. Zaid hit a 3-pointer to start the run and
Jonathan Davis scored back-to-baskets to make it 44-34. Munzon and Zaid then hit consecutive 3-pointers to boost the advantage to 50-34 with 2:30 to go and put the game out of reach.
Cal State LA will advance to the semi-finals at the Stockton Arena on Friday at 12:05 p.m. The Golden Eagles will face No. 4 seed Humboldt State, which edged Cal State Monterey Bay. The other three top-seeds, No. 2 UC San Diego, No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona and No. 4 Humboldt State, won their first-round games.