SAN BERNARDINO -- Cal State LA's men's basketball team knew it needed a split from its first weekend of California Collegiate Athletic Association play and the Golden Eagles left nothing to chance on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles raced out to a 36-15 halftime lead and built second-half leads as large as 25 points in a 63-45 win over Cal State San Bernardino in Coussoulis Arena. Cal State LA (2-6, 1-1 CCAA) snapped a three-game losing streak that saw all three games decided by four points and evened its conference record after two games in the process. The Golden Eagles limited the Coyotes just 23.7 percent shooting and hounded them into an 0-for-17 performance from 3-point range.
Isaiah Fields had a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Golden Eagles, while
Michael Pearson Jr. also had 15 points.
Deraje Agbaosi had 14 points, seven rebounds and five steals.
Xavier Clinton and Gavin Davis had nine points each for Cal State San Bernardino (3-6, 0-2 CCAA).
Donovan Vickers had seven points and four assists, while
Khemanni Davis and
Connor Scales had four points each.
Cal State LA shot 42.3 percent (22-of-52) overall and was 4-of-12 from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles were 15-of-16 from the free-throw line. Cal State San Bernardino shot just 23.7 percent (14-of-59) and missed all 17 of its 3-point tries. The Coyotes were 17-of-21 from the free-throw line.
Cal State San Bernardino had a 40-37 rebounding edge and both teams had 14 turnovers.
Cal State LA surrendered the first four points of the game and trailed 8-7 before taking control of the game with a 19-2 run that put the Golden Eagles ahead, 26-10. Vickers hit a 3-pointer to give the Golden Eagles a 10-8 lead and the Golden Eagles never looked back. The Golden Eagles scored the final six points of the half on a pair of free throws by Scales and a pair of layups by Agbaosi to take a 35-14 halftime lead.
A 3-pointer by Fields pushed the lead to 38-16 in the opening minute of the second half and Cal State LA took its biggest lead at 59-34 after a pair of free throwws by Agbaosi with 6:52 left. Cal State LA never led by less than 14 points in the second half.
Cal State LA will return to action on Friday, Dec. 19 with a home game against San Francisco State at 7:30 p.m.
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