LA JOLLA, Calif. ? Jontae Vinson scored 42 points to lead the Cal State L.A. Golden Eagles to an 86-77 victory over host UC San Diego on Saturday night in RIMAC Arena. With the loss the Tritons fall to 10-13 overall and 8-10 in CCAA play while the Golden Eagles improve to 10-13 overall and 7-11 in league action.
CSULA, which led by only a 32-29 margin at halftime, got a 23-points second half performance from Vinson who went 8-for-10 from the field and 7-for-9 from the charity stripe in the stanza. He finished the game with a 17 of 25 night from the floor and a 8-for-12 performance from the foul line.
The Golden Eagles held a 72-60 lead with 3:27 to go in the game but a Triton rally cut the deficit down to 76-72 after Kelvin Kim hit a 3-pointer off a Robby Peters steal. UCSD would get within three points at 80-77 after a Kim free throw, but solid shooting from Cal State L.A. at the charity stripe kept the Tritons from getting any closer.
Kim led five UCSD players in double-figure scoring on the night, pouring in 19 to go along with six assists. Peters added 12 while the trio of Clint Allard, Darryl Lawlor and Shane Poppen each chipped in with 11 points. Poppen had a team-high eight rebounds in the loss for the Tritons.
Vinson's 42 points was complimented by a game-high 11 rebounds and one blocked shot. Vincent Camper added 18 points, 10 of which came from the foul line, to go along with seven boards and four assists for CSULA.
Head coach Bill Carr's squad returns to the road next weekend, traveling to No. 24 Cal Poly Pomona on Friday night before taking on No. 20 Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday evening. Both of those contests are slated for 7:30 p.m. starts in the Inland Empire.
