BOX SCORE

LOS ANGELES — The game plan seemed sound: make the worst three-point shooting team in the conference beat you from the perimeter. But Cal State L.A. threw a monkey wrench into that plan, making five of its first 10 from beyond the arc to race to a 15-point lead en route to a 75–62 win Saturday night in The Eagles' Nest.

CSULA (6-4, 3-3 CCAA) cooled down considerably after its hot start, making just two of its last eight from long range, right in line with its CCAA-worst 25.2 percent season average. But the yin to the Golden Eagles's yang was the unusually cold outside shooting by CSUMB (6-7, 2-4), which made just 3-of-16 from downtown.

Two of CSUMB's long balls came from Alex Fertig (Fresno/Buchanan HS) and Brandon Ward (Riverside/Woodcrest HS). Fertig led all scorers with 21 points, his fifth 20-plus point game of the season. Ward also reached double figures with 10 points and is now just 10 points away from becoming the fourth Otter to amass 1,000 career points.

L.A. used a three-pointer by Willie Trimble and a pair of treys from Quinton Watkins to key a 15-2 run that turned a 13-11 lead into a 28-13 advantage midway through the first half. CSUMB's deficit never got bigger, and Otters got to within single digits several times in the second half, but they couldn't get over the hump.

The win snapped CSUMB's season-high three game winning streak. The Otters will look to start a new streak when they return to The Kelp Bed for their next four games, beginning Friday, Jan. 11 against No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona.