SAN FRANCISCO -- Cal State LA's men's basketball team now has company at the top after a hard-fought loss at San Francisco State on Saturday.

The No. 21 Golden Eagles erased a 14-point second-half deficit and took a brief lead with three minutes left, but the Gators made their free throws down the stretch and held on for a 72-68 victory in San Francisco State's Main Gym. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak by the Golden Eagles.

Cal State LA (12-3, 7-2 CCAA), which took over sole possession of the California Collegiate Athletic Association lead with a win at Cal State East Bay on Thursday, slips into a tie for the conference lead with Chico State and the winner of the Cal State East Bay-Cal State Dominguez Hills game later on Saturday.

Cal State LA trailed by 14 points, 55-41, with 10:45 to go, but stormed back and grabbed a 61-60 lead on an offensive rebound basket by Eche Okeke with three minutes left, but the Gators regrouped and went on an 8-2 run to take the lead for good. The Golden Eagles got to within one point with 22 seconds left, but the Gators made three-of-four from the free-throw line to hold onto the lead.

Corey Cofield had a season-high 20 points and a season-high 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles, while Okeke, who returned to the place where he was an All-CCAA performer before transferring to Cal State LA, also had a season-high 20 points and seven rebounds.

Jailen Daniel-Dalton had 16 points for the Gators (9-8, 3-6 CCAA), while Tyjean Burrell had 15 points.

Shane Bell had nine points and A'Jahni Levias had eight points and five rebounds.

Cal State LA didn't shoot well, making only six baskets in the opening half while falling behind, 36-25. The Golden Eagles finished the game 19-of-57 (33.3 percent) and just 7-of-29 from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles were 23-of-27 from the free-throw line, led by Cofield, who was a perfect 10-of-10. That's just two behind the program record for most free throws made in a game without a miss, set by Michael-Isaiah Ajiboye on Jan. 2, 2020.

San Francisco State shot 35.1 percent (20-of-57) and was 9-of-25 from 3-point range. The Gators were 23-of-32 from the free-throw line. Both teams had 41 rebounds and the Golden Eagles had 12 turnovers to only nine for the Gators. 

It marked only the second time this season the Golden Eagles have had more turnovers than their opponent.

Cal State LA scored the first eight points of the game on a 3-pointer by Okeke, a layup by Dominic Escobar, and a three-point play by Okeke, but the Gators rallied and took a 36-25 lead by halftime.

The Golden Eagles fell behind by as many as 14 points twice in the second half and were still down by 11 points with nine minutes to go. Kris Krause hit a 3-pointer, Cofield scored on a layup and Krause hit a pair of free throws to cut the margin to 56-52. San Francisco State upped its lead to 60-54, but a basket by Okeke, a 3-pointer by Bell and a basket by Okeke gave the Golden Eagles their only lead of the second half, 61-60, with 3:12 remaining.

A basket by Cofield kept the Golden Eagles within 65-63 and a 3-pointer by Cofield kept the margin at two, 68-66, with 29 seconds to go. After a free throw by San Francisco State, Okeke hit two free throws to make it 69-68 with 22 seconds to go, but that was as close as the Golden Eagles would get.

Cal State LA will return to action on Thursday with a first-place battle with co-leader Chico State in University Gym.










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