AZUSA, Calif. – Cal State Los Angeles jumped out to an early lead and never looked, as the visiting Golden Eagles defeated Azusa Pacific 90-82 on Tuesday night.

Cal State L.A. opened the game on a 20-4 run, as the Golden Eagles started 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. Down double digits through much of the first half, the Cougars were able to cut the halftime deficit down to six points at 41-35. While Cal State L.A. pushed the lead to nine, at 47-38 with 17:29 remaining in the game, Azusa Pacific went on a 9-0 run to knot the score at 47-47 with 15:51 in the second half. Following a pair of free throws by the Golden Eagles to make the score 49-47, Azusa Pacific grabbed its first lead of the game when Terrence Becvar hit a three-pointer to make it 50-49 Cougars, with 14:14 left in the game. The lead was brief, as Cal State L.A. hit its own three-pointer on the ensuing possession to take back the advantage at 52-50 at the 13:59 mark in the second half. While the Cougars were able to tie things up at 61-61 with 8:09 remaining in the game,  and then again at 63-63 with 7:25 left in regulation, Azusa Pacific would not lead again.

The story of the game was the turnover number for each side, as the Cougars had 21 turnovers while Cal State L.A. had just nine turnovers over the course of 40 minutes. The Golden Eagles scored 33 points off of the Cougars' turnovers, and Azusa Pacific had eight points by way of Cal State L.A's miscues.

"How we played tonight is not who we are," said head coach Peter Bond, "every team has their own style, and every team has their own identity. Tonight, we tried to play like them. Every time they made a run, we compounded things by trying to do stuff that is uncharacteristic of our team."

Despite the loss, Azusa Pacific received a quality performance from Selom Mawugbe. Mawugbe finished with a near triple-double, as he had 19 points, 19 rebounds, and eight blocks in the contest. Of Mawugbe's 19 rebounds, seven of them were on the offensive glass. Mawugbe shot 7-of-10 from the floor (70%), and also recorded two steals. Four other Cougars also finished in double figures; Jake Spurgeon (16 points), Ben Avera (14 points), Brennan Rymer (11 points), and Ben Taufahema (10 points).

The Cougars, now 2-1 to start the season, will be back in action for a pair of games this weekend in Irvine, at the Aramark GNAC/PacWest Challenge. Azusa Pacific will open with Seattle Pacific at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, followed by a Saturday matchup with Western Washington at 2:00 p.m.