ROHNERT PARK -- Cal State LA's men's basketball team had to work overtime Thursday night in a California Collegiate Athletic Association game at Sonoma State, but the extra effort was worth it.
The Golden Eagles outscored the Seawolves, 16-9, in the extra period and pulled out an 86-79 win in the Wolves' Den. Cal State LA (13-14, 8-13 CCAA) pulled into an eighth-place tie with Cal State San Marcos with one conference game remaining on Saturday. The Golden Eagles are one game back of seventh-place Cal State Dominguez Hills. The top eight teams qualify for the CCAA Tournament.
Fard Muhammad had a tremendous game for the Golden Eagles, scoring a game-high 27 points, including two big 3-pointers in overtime that broke a 72-72 tie and gave Cal State LA the lead for good.
Michael-Isaiah Ajiboye had 16 points and
Jordan Rogers scored 13 points for the Golden Eagles.
Isaac Davidson had 17 points for Sonoma State (5-21, 4-17 CCAA).
Ja'Sean Lewis had eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three blocks for the Golden Eagles, while
Khalil Williams had nine points and nine rebounds.
Cal State LA shot 39 percent for the game (32-of-82) and was 15-of-46 from 3-point range. Sonoma State shot 46.3 percent for the game (31-of-67) and was 11-of-31 from 3-point range. Cal State LA was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, while Sonoma State was 6-of-8. Cal State LA was out-rebounded, 44-43, but committed only nine turnovers to 17 for the Seawolves.
The Golden Eagles trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, but got a late dunk from Lewis off an assist from
Shacquille Dawkins to take a 32-31 halftime lead. Cal State LA fell behind early in the second half, but surged to take a 64-57 lead with 7:35 to go following a 3-pointer by
CJ Fisher. Sonoma State, though, scored the next seven points to erase the deficit and held a 70-68 lead until Dawkins tied the game at 70-70 after a layup in the final minute. Neither team scored after Dawkins' layup and the game went into overtime.
Muhammad hit two straight 3-pointers to give the Golden Eagles a 78-72 lead and they never looked back. A dunk by Rogers made it 80-75 and a layup by Rogers put the Golden Eagles ahead, 82-77, with 50 seconds left. A layup by Ajiboye pushed the lead back to five points with 12 seconds to go and a pair of free throws by Muhammad finished the scoring.
Cal State LA will conclude the regular season with a road game at San Francisco State on Saturday at 3 p.m.
