SEASIDE -- Cal State LA's men's basketball team had an explosive first half and made it stand up for an important California Collegiate Athletic Association win at Cal State Monterey Bay.

The Golden Eagles raced out to a 46-30 halftime lead and held on for an 82-77 win over the Otters Thursday night in the Otter Sports Center. Cal State LA (10-13, 8-9 CCAA) won its second straight game and pulled into a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference with Cal State East Bay and Cal Poly Pomona.

That trio is just two games out of third place with five conference games remaining.

The top six teams will qualify for the CCAA Tournament, which was won last season by Cal State LA for the first time in program history.

A returning Shane Bell led the way, pouring in a season-high 24 points and four assists, while Dominic Escobar continued his strong play with 13 points and three rebounds. Devin Ringer had 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range to go along with seven rebounds and Kyjuan Cannady had 11 points.

Jaden Tengan had a game-high 27 points for Cal State Monterey Bay (6-16, 4-14 CCAA), while Blake Jones had an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Connor Scales had nine points in 15 minutes for the Golden Eagles, while Martin Zarzuela hit a pair of 3-pointers for a career-high six points in 10 minutes.

Cal State LA shot 41.7 percent for the game (25-of-60) and was 11-of-23 from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles shot 50 percent in the first half (16-of-32) and was 10-of-18 from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles were 21-of-26 from the free-throw line.

Cal State Monterey Bay shot 48.3 percent for the game (29-of-60) and was 10-of-24 from 3-point range. The Otters were 9-of-13 from the free-throw line. 

Cal State LA was out-rebounded, 41-28, but committed only five turnovers to 14 for the Otters.

The Golden Eagles erased an early 8-5 deficit with a 10-0 run that included eight straight points from Bell and a steal and dunk from Cannady. A 9-0 run accomplished courtesy of a 3-pointer by Zarzuela and two 3-pointers from Ringer gave the Golden Eagles their first double-digit lead at 24-13 and they scored the last five points of the period on a layup by Escobar and a 3-pointer by Ringer to take a 46-30 halftime lead.

The Otters scored the first 10 points of the second half to pull to within 46-40, but the Golden Eagles responded with an 8-0 run after an offensive rebound and basket by Chasen Stewart, two free throws each by Scales and Cannady and a steal and dunk by Bell to make it 54-40.

The Otters once again pulled to within six points at 57-51 with 10 minutes left, but Bell scored six straight points to restore the lead to 63-51 and added a 3-pointer to make it 66-53 with 7:45 remaining.

Two free throws by Bell gave the Golden Eagles their final double-digit lead at 74-63 with 2:45 to go. After a pair of free throws by Cannady made it 76-67 with 1:10 to go and Jaden Lazo and Bell were 3-of-6 from the line while the Otters got to within 79-75 with 28 seconds to go. Jordan Rosales hit a free throw to make it 80-75 before a jumper by Ariya Briscoe got the Otters to within one possession at 80-77 with 14 seconds to go.

Escobar, though, put the game away with a pair of free throws with 12 seconds to go and Cal State LA held on for the win.

Cal State LA will return to action on Saturday with a game at Stanislaus State at 3 p.m.