TURLOCK — The Warriors went three whole minutes without scoring a basket late in the game, as they allowed the Cal State L.A. Golden Eagles to rally for the 64-58 win Saturday night.
The loss ended the Warriors' five-game home winning streak as they dropped to 13-6 overall and 10-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. With Cal Poly Pomona and Chico State both winners tonight, the Warriors fall to second place in the standings heading into next week's showdown against the Pomona Broncos.
What could have been a match-up of two first place teams in front of the expected near-capacity crowd next Friday, Fitzpatrick Arena will be rocking with the Homecoming and Alumni weekend fans hoping to help the Warriors get back up to first place.
On Saturday night, the Warriors had a tough time living up to their first-place billing. They shot just 34 percent overall and committed 15 turnovers. They key stretch was the final 3-plus minutes. After a
Rob Walters jumper at 3:20 to give Stanislaus a six-point, 55-49, the Warriors stopped scoring.
Stanislaus went 0-for-5 in the final three minutes until a Walters offensive-rebound-put-back at 20 seconds remaining. By then, L.A. had taken over the game with an 11-1 run for a 60-56 Golden Eagles lead. LaBradford Franklin and Chris Martin made four free throws in the final 17 seconds for the final count.
Walters finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double.
Tyler Barber hit three three-pointers and ended up with 12 points and
Christian Bayne had 11 points.
Wes Bartole led all players with 11 rebounds.
Four Golden Eagles (8-10, 6-8 CCAA) were in double digits in scoring. Martin led the way with 15 points as L.A. shot 42.1 percent collectively. Joshua Munzon, who ended upwith 10 points, hit a huge three-pointer with 39 seconds left to give Cal State L.A. a four-point lead.
Despite their 6-2 record at home, the Warriors have not been able to put teams away. They were averaging a plus-four in four of the last five wins at Fitzpatrick Arena.
