Los Angeles, Calif. – The Central Washington Wildcats close out their California road trip with a 51-57 loss to the Cal State LA Golden Eagles on Saturday.

QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH BRANDON RINTA

"LA's defensive style made it tough on us offensively tonight. We must be better at not turning the ball over. We gave ourselves a chance late by battling back in the game but couldn't capitalize by making our free throws."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Wildcats and Golden Eagles started out the game slowly. Colby Gennett buried a three to put the 'Cats on the board with 16:28 left. Camron McNeil and Mitch Breeze provided some offensive production off of the bench, and at the ten-minute mark, Cal State LA was up 9-7. After a timeout, the Wildcats started an offensive flurry. McNeil hit a layup, followed by a Landis Spivey three, and a McNeil floater to bring the score to 14-16 with 7:25 remaining. Offensive opportunities were limited through to the halftime break, where the Golden Eagles lead 24-20.

Whistles and turnovers plagued Central in the opening half of the competition; the Wildcats committed 11 turnovers and committed 7 fouls.

Cal State LA went on a 9-4 run to open the second half. Samaad Hector and McNeil would answer with threes to cut the deficit to five with 16 minutes left to play. Two Central turnovers and a layup from Deuce Walker extended CSLA's lead to ten, 42-32 with 12:04 remaining. The Wildcats went on a 12-5 run, pushing the score to 47-44, cutting the deficit to three. A jumper from McNeil cut the deficit to one with 3:18 left. Four points from Dominic Escobar and a clutch defensive rebound from Walker secured the 57-51 victory for the Golden Eagles.

Escobar led all scorers with 17 points and added 6 boards. McNeil led the 'Cats with 13 points and 5 rebounds. Gennett had 10 points and 6 boards. Isaiah Banks led the team in rebounding with 7 boards. The Wildcats shot 39.2% from the field, 36.4% from the stripe, and put up 28 bench points. The 18 turnovers and 17 fouls hurt the Crimson and Black. The Golden Eagles shot 37.7% from the floor to go with 31.3% from beyond the arc.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats continue their road trip next week traveling to Nampa, Idaho squaring up against Midwestern State and Azusa Pacific in the Northwest Nazarene Thanksgiving Classic.