LOS ANGELES – Overcoming a large first-half deficit, the Cal State San Marcos men's basketball team (1-4, 1-0 CCAA) started CCAA play with a 78-64 victory over Cal State LA (3-4, 0-1 CCAA) on Saturday afternoon at University Gym.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Greg Milton III – 22 points | 6 rebounds | 2 steals
Joel Mensah – 12 points | 7 rebounds
Jayce McCain – 12 points | 3 assists
Lyle Sutton – 11 points | 5 assists | 2 steals
Zack Perlstein – 10 points | 5 assists | 3 rebounds
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cougars began the game down 16-0 at the 13:36 mark after a pair of free throws by LA's Adrease Jackson.
• Trailing 19-4, CSUSM went on a 12-0 run to bring the Cougars within three at 19-16 following a Milton layup with 6:50 to play in the period.
• A McCain jumper knotted the game at 24-all with 3:06 to play in the half.
• Tied at 26, another Milton layup gave CSUSM its first lead of the game at 28-26 with 1:24 to go in the period.
• A last-second layup by McCain sent the Cougars to the locker room with a 30-28 lead.
• CSUSM ended the half shooting 45.2% (14-of-31) from the field while LA clocked in at 40% (10-of-25).
• Edwyn Collins led the Cougars with nine points in the opening period.
• The Golden Eagles gobbled up the first-half rebounds at a 22-12 margin.
• After LA opened up the second half with a hook shot by Jared Pearre to tie the game at 30-all, CSUSM scored 13 consecutive points to go up 43-30 with 16:03 to play.
• CSUSM continued the onslaught by going up 55-32 with a 3-pointer by Perlstein with 11:57 to go.
• Another 3-pointer by Perlstein with 9:22 remaining gave the Cougars their largest lead of the game at 24 points at 60-34.
• Down 66-50, LA cut CSUSM's lead to single digits with an 8-0 run that was capped by a pair of Dominic Escobar free throws.
• The Golden Eagles came no closer as the Cougars ended the game with a 14-point lead.
• CSUSM shot 64% (16-of-25) from the field in the second half while LA came in at 48.1% (13-of-27).

 
FAST BREAKS

• CSUSM ended the game shooting 53.6% (30-of-56) from the field while LA came in at 44.2% (23-of-52).
• The Golden Eagles committed 22 turnovers compared to the Cougars' 13.
• CSUSM posted 13 steals while LA had just three.
• The Cougars scored 25 points off Golden Eagle turnovers.
• Leading just 22 seconds in the first half, CSUSM ended up leading the game for 20:11 while LA clocked in at 17:17.
• Milton's 22 points led all scorers.
• Milton has led the Cougars in scoring for all five games while Mensah has led the way in rebounds.
• Perlstein's five assists were a career high while Sutton's five steals were also a career best.
• CSUSM has now won four consecutive games against LA and is 7-5 in the all-time series.
• The Cougars' 12-point win tied their largest margin of victory in the series.

 
UP NEXT
CSUSM will play the third game of its four-game road trip by traveling to Stanislaus State on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.