LOS ANGELES — In an unfortunate turn of events in a matter of a few days, the Warriors went from a suddenly-CCAA tourney hopefuls to being eliminated as Cal State L.A. defeated Stanislaus State, 68-62, Thursday night.

Kyle Gouveia and Christian Bayne scored 20 points each to lead the Warriors, but Duce Zaid carried the Golden Eagles on his shoulders by scoring 23 points as Stanislaus dropped to 7-17 overall and 6-13 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

Cal State L.A. improved to 9-17 overall and 8-11 in CCAA play to snag the eighth and final CCAA tournament berth.

After last weekend's two dramatic wins at home over Humboldt State and Cal Poly Pomona, the Warrior men found themselves with a chance to qualify for the 8-team CCAA tournament with a win Thursday night in L.A.

However, a slow start and sluggish finish against the Golden Eagles resulted in the defeat which meant the Warriors won't be playing after Saturday's regular season finale at home against Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Cal State L.A. started the game 7-0 and went off on a 12-4 run to begin the contest. The Eagles would maintain a slim lead for most of the game with either team leading by more than five points in a tight game.

Stanislaus led briefly a couple of times by one point with its biggest lead at 29-26 on an Alek Carlson layup at 4:05 left in the first half.

The Warriors had chances to cut down the deficit late in the game. A Bayne trey at 3:35 left to play got Stan State within one at 57-56 — that field goal turned out to be the team's final basket before Stephen Evans' layup with 25 seconds remaining.

Despite L.A. going off on a 7-0 ensuing run, the Warriors still had their chances, especially on the foul line. Trailing by just five in the final 30 seconds, the Warriors were 1 of 4 from the free throw line and missed two three-point tries.

Saturday's final home game against Cal State Dominguez Hills is at 7:30 p.m.