SAN MARCOS -- It took 15 tries for Cal State LA's men's basketball team to win its first California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament title and the Golden Eagles are hoping for a much shorter wait time for tourney title No. 2.

The Golden Eagles captured their first-ever tournament title last season as a No. 3 seed on their way to a program record 24 wins and a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Division II West Regional. Cal State LA posted wins over No. 6 seed San Francisco State (86-62), Cal State Dominguez Hills (75-73) and Cal State San Bernardino (74-62) to capture the conference tournament at Coussoulis Arena.

The three victories in last year's tourney matched the total victories Cal State LA has accumulated in its first 14 trips to the conference tournament. 

A first-round 66-60 win at Cal State San Bernardino as a No. 6 seed in 2011.

A stunning first-round win at Chico State, 54-37, as a No. 8 seed in 2016.

A first-round overtime win at San Francisco State as a No. 5 seed, 81-76, in 2019.

Those three tournament wins were followed by semifinal defeats.

That narrative all changed over three nights in San Bernardino last season.

The Golden Eagles enter this year's tournament as a No. 6 seed after one of the more impactful wins in program history last week that they needed to reach the tourney. In a true must-win game at Cal State East Bay with the sixth and final tournament spot on the line, the Golden Eagles stormed back from a 17-point second-half deficit in a stunning reversal to beat the Pioneers, 68-65. 

Cal State LA surged from a 36-19 deficit to a 62-54 lead with a game-changing 36-13 run and then held off a late bid by Cal State East Bay for the win. Corey Cofield II had a career-high 30 points in that game, including 26 in the second half. Shane Bell had 17 points and Kyjuan Cannady had all nine of his points in the second half.

In a sense, the Golden Eagles faced playoff pressure in that contest since a loss would have meant the end of postseason aspirations.

Cal State LA will open defense of its title on Thursday at noon in a first-round contest against No. 3 seed Cal State San Bernardino in a rematch of last year's title game. The Coyotes had won the previous three conference tournament titles before the Golden Eagles snapped their streak.



The Golden Eagles and Coyotes have only met twice in the CCAA Tournament with Cal State LA prevailing both times with both games taking place in Coussoulis Arena.. The first was an improbable 66-60 win in a first-round game in 2011 and the second was last season's 74-62 victory.

The two teams split regular-season meetings this season with Cal State San Bernardino posting a 79-63 win in San Bernardino on Jan. 2 and Cal State LA recording an 86-78 win in University Gym on Feb. 8.

The winner of Thursday's game will face No. 2 seed Chico State on Friday.