LA JOLLA, Calif. – Jordan Lawley led all scorers with 29 points and Christian Hatch finished with a career-high 23 to lead the UC San Diego men's basketball team to a spirited 83-77 victory over visiting Cal State L.A. on Saturday night at RIMAC Arena. The Tritons led by as many as 18 points and held off a late Golden Eagle rally for their first win in six games.

UCSD hit 10 of its first 15 shots and never trailed, picking up its first victory since defeating San Francisco State in double overtime on January 16. The Tritons improve to 5-13 overall on the season and 4-11 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play, while Cal State L.A. falls to 12-9 overall and 8-8 in league.

Lawley finished 9-for-18 from the field, scoring 19 of his 29 points in the second half. He was 2-of-7 from the three-point line and 9-of-11 at the charity stripe, while also tallying four rebounds and three assists.

Hatch shattered his previous career mark of 16, hitting 7-of-16 from the field and 9-of-12 at the foul line. He added a game-high 11 boards for his third double-double of the season.

Tyler Acevedo hit three triples on the way to 13 points, while Casey Ryan tallied a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards, as four of UCSD's five starters reached double figures.

UCSD shot better than 53% in the opening half and finished at 47.5% for the game, recording 19 assists on 28 field goals. The Tritons outscored the Golden Eagles 38-34 in the paint and withstood an 18-2 Cal State L.A. advantage in points off the bench.

“We played with great effort and energy early on and it really set the tone,” head coach Chris Carlson said. “I thought we had pretty good balance offensively and we were as sharp on that end of the floor as we've been all season. They made a run down the stretch like we knew they would and, fortunately, we were able to pull out the win.”

The Tritons jumped out to a 25-14 lead as Hatch and Lawley combined to score 15 points in the game's first 10 minutes. The Golden Eagles closed to within 30-26 on a layup by Dwayne Jones with 5:12 left in the period, but UCSD closed the half on an 11-4 run to take a 41-30 lead into the locker room.

Lawley hit a three to give the Tritons a 52-34 cushion three minutes into the second period, but Chris Fields scored 11 of the Golden Eagles' next 16 to bring the visitors to within six at 56-50.

UCSD pushed the lead back to 12 following a pair of Acevedo threes, but CSULA came roaring back once again, closing to within 79-74 with 1:38 left to play. After both teams traded empty trips, Dwayne Jones got a steal in the backcourt and Mark Dorsey earned a trip to the line with a chance to cut the deficit to two with 36 seconds on the clock.

Dorsey missed them both, Lawley sank two on the other end to make it 81-75, and the Tritons held on for the six-point win.

Field scored 22 points to lead the Golden Eagles, who shot 46% as a team. He hit 7-of-15 shots from the field and added five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Dwayne Jones finished with 19 points, while Chris Robinson added 16 and Leland Jones chipped in with 15.

Both teams hit six triples in the game and each finished with 17 points off turnovers.

The Tritons are back in action next week when they travel to Cal State Stanislaus on Thursday and Chico State on Saturday.