POMONA -- William Christmas dropped in a game-high 24 points with nine rebounds and six assists as the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team staved off a furious second half rally by 16th-ranked UC San Diego to capture an exciting 67-62 victory on Thursday night at Kellogg Arena in Pomona.

With their sixth straight victory, the Broncos (13-5) sit tight at third place in the CCAA standings at 11-5, one game behind second place Cal State East Bay (12-4), and one and a half games behind the Tritons (12-3), who fell to 17-5 overall.

It was all Broncos in the first half, shooting out to an impressive 46-27 halftime lead over the CCAA leaders, thanks to a 56.7 percent effort from the floor on 17 of 30 while holding UCSD to just 32 percent on 8 of 25, 21 of those shots coming from three-point range prior to the intermission.

It was a different story in the second half, however.  After Jordan Ogundiran's layup with 16:28 left in regulation put CPP up by 22 points at 55-33, UC San Diego went on a 27-4 tear over the next 12 minutes and change to actually take a 60-59 lead with 3:18 to go.  It wasn't until Christmas' three-pointer with 2:11 left on the clock that the Broncos snapped an 0 for 17 dry spell in field goals over a span of 14 minutes to regain the lead at 62-60.  The lead would not be relinquished by the hosts, thanks to Christmas scoring seven of his 24 points in the final minutes to secure the upset win.

The Broncos were just 6 of 28 from the floor in the second half (21.4 percent), but finished the game at 23 for 58 (39.7 percent).  The Tritons shot just 34.5 percent (19 for 55) on the night, including an 11 for 38 output from long range.

Christmas was the only CPP player in double-figures as Ogundiran, Dwight Ramos and Phoenix Shackelford were held to just seven points apiece.

UC San Diego was led by Tyrell Roberts, who finished with 14 points, while Chris Hansen had 13.

Cal Poly Pomona returns to action in Kellogg Arena Saturday night, hosting Cal State San Marcos at 7:30 pm.