LOS ANGELES – Cal State LA's men's basketball team just missed picking off a big win against conference-leading UC San Diego.
 
The Golden Eagles rallied from 14 points down in the last nine minutes, but eventually ran out of time in an 86-84 loss to the Tritons Saturday in a California Collegiate Athletic Association. Cal State LA got huge games from Travis Hammonds and Jordan Wilson, who combined for 59 points and overwhelmed UC San Diego's defensive efforts.
 
Cal State LA, though, was largely unsuccessful slowing down UC San Diego at the other end and the Tritons shot 51.7 percent and escaped with a narrow win.
 
Cal State LA (13-13, 8-9 CCAA) lost for just the fourth time in its last 11 games, while UC San Diego (19-5, 14-3 CCAA) managed to keep a one-half game lead over Sonoma State and San Francisco State.
 
Hammonds scored a game-high 31 points in 31 minutes and simply overwhelmed his defenders. He was 8-of-12 overall and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Wilson was also unstoppable, pouring in 28 points and using his strength and quickness to get to the free-throw line, where he was 15-of-18 for the game. Hammonds was a perfect 11-of-11 from the line.
 
Chris Hansen had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Tritons, while Adam Klie and Christian Oshita had 15 points each.
 
Devin Means had 10 points for Cal State LA, while Roderick Evans-Taylor had eight points and eight rebounds.
 
The Golden Eagles shot just 38.2 percent for the game (21-of-55) and were 8-of-24 from 3-point range. UC San Diego was more efficient, hitting 51.7 percent (30-of-58) although the Tritons made only 8-of-25 from 3-point range.
 
Cal State LA was 34-of-39 from the free-throw line, while UC San Diego was 18-of-24.
 
The Golden Eagles fell behind early, 14-4, and trailed by as many as 12 points before closing the gap to six points at halftime, 41-35.
 
The Golden Eagles pulled to within three points, 48-45, with after a steal and three-point play by Means, but UC San Diego responded with a big run to open up a 66-52 advantage. The Golden Eagles still trailed by 14 points, 71-57, before going on a 15-5 run capped by a three-point play and a 3-pointer by Wilson with four minutes left.
 
A three-point play by Evans-Taylor got the Golden Eagles to within two points, 81-79, with 1:11 to go, but UC San Diego hit its free throws down the stretch to hang on. A pair of free throws by Wilson made it 84-83 with six seconds to go, but that's as close as the Golden Eagles would get.
 
Cal State LA will return to action on Friday with a road game at Sonoma State.