LOS ANGELES --- An 84-73 loss to CSU Los Angeles on Saturday night dropped the Cal State  Monterey Bay men's basketball team from a three-way tie for the fifth seed in the California Collegiate Athletic Association postseason tourney down to the eighth seed.

CSUMB (10-14 overall, 9-9 in the CCAA) trailed early, falling behind 13-2 to start the game, and held one brief lead, at 28-27 for about a minute, the entire game. The Otters were behind 38-30 at halftime and never were able to even the score in the second half. Vincent Camper led CSULA (15-10, 9-9) with 34 points.

The Otters, who clinched a spot in the postseason Friday night, still have a chance for a home game. The fourth, fifth and sixth seeds are all 10-8 in conference play. CSUMB plays one of those teams, San Francisco State, at home on Wednesday. The Otters finish the season at home on Thursday against UC San Diego (11-7). Both games tip off at the Otter Sports Center at 7:30 p.m.

Cal Poly Pomona (10-8) plays Sonoma State (6-12) and Humboldt State (13-5) this week. CSU Dominguez Hills (10-8) and CSU Los Angeles have the easiest schedules left with games against CSU Stanislaus (5-13) and Chico State (2-16). CSULA holds the tiebreaker over CSUMB because it won both head-to-head games this season.

Despite the loss, the good news for CSUMB is that #Joe Mitchell# returned to the lineup Saturday night and looked healthy. The 6' 4” forward has been out since Feb. 9 when he dislocated his knee against Chico State. Mitchell had 12 rebounds and 11 points in 21 minutes. #DShon Cannon# led CSUMB with 20 points.