LOS ANGELES - The No. 25 Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team bounced back from a tough overtime defeat two nights prior by defeating Cal State LA, 72-65, in a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) contest at University Gym on Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, Cal Poly Pomona improved to 19-6 overall and 15-5 in the CCAA. Cal State LA fell to 12-14 overall and 7-13 in league play, still on the outside looking in on the postseason picture in ninth place in the standings.

With Cal State San Bernardino and Chico State also posting wins later on Saturday night, the Broncos, Coyotes and Wildcats remain in a three-way tie for second behind regular-season champion UC San Diego.

Two days after dropping a game-high 30 points in that loss at Cal State Dominguez Hills, fourth-year senior William Christmas led all players again on Saturday with his 19 points, adding a game-high 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and seventh of his career.

Cal State LA got back-to-back Jordan Rogers three-pointers for a 6-0 lead right out of the gate, but it was the Broncos who ultimately took a six-point advantage into the locker room, up 29-23. In fact, the hosts were ahead 23-18 at the 5:53 mark before CPP kept them scoreless over the remainder while tallying the last 11 points of the period.

Christmas bookended the run with a triple and then a layup to beat the buzzer. He also assisted junior Tavian Henderson on a dunk, while fellow senior Nikhil Peters hit a three-pointer of his own to go on top, 25-23. The Broncos never trailed again.

Cal State LA again began the second period strong, with Fard Muhammad drilling a three and Khalil Williams scoring in the paint for the first five points. Senior Riley Schaefer got the visitors going with a three-pointer for 32-28, before the Golden Eagles managed to level matters one last time at 34-34 with 17:03 to go.

From there, Cal Poly Pomona found its groove again and used a 12-0 run to grab its largest lead of 14 points, at 53-39, with 12:05 left. The margin was never less than four over the final 12 minutes. The hosts did create some extra drama late, shaving a 66-52 deficit down to 67-63, but five free throws got the Broncos over the finish line.

Christmas wound up 7-of-12 from the field, including 1-of-3 from long range, and 4-of-7 from the line, adding four assists and a pair of steals. Schaefer joined him in double digits with 13 points. Junior BJ Standley had nine points, four assists, three steals and two rebounds, while Peters and junior Phoenix Shackelford contributed eight points apiece.

Williams led five Golden Eagles in double-figure scoring with his 16 points, on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. Muhammad chipped in 12 points and dished out a game-high six of Cal State LA's 20 assists.

The teams each committed 19 turnovers on the afternoon. That total is a season high for CPP.

Cal Poly Pomona wraps up the regular season at home in the coming week, hosting Cal State East Bay on Thursday and Cal State Monterey Bay on Senior Night Saturday. Both games will tip off at approximately 7:30 p.m., after the CPP women at 5:30 p.m. All four contests are free to watch on the CCAA Network, either online (ccaanetwork.com), or by downloading the channel on Android, Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV. Entry is free for Cal Poly Pomona students, faculty and staff.

Bronco Bits: For the third game in a row and just the third time this season, Cal Poly Pomona trotted out a starting lineup of fourth-year seniors William Christmas, Nikhil Peters, Riley Schaefer and Justin Young, alongside junior BJ Standley ... Peters and Schaefer are the lone Broncos who have started all 25 contests ... Over the first 25 games, Christmas has had at least a share of the team high in points 11 times, and game high nine ... The Broncos are 12-4 away from home in 2019-20, including 10-3 in true road dates ... Cal Poly Pomona began the day Friday fifth in Division II in field goal percentage defense (40.0) and sixth in scoring defense (63.5), and posted marks Saturday of 49.0 and 65, respectively ... CPP also beat Cal State LA twice a year ago, including 102-99 in a quadruple-overtime thriller in the CCAA Tournament semifinals in Hayward on March 8 ... The Broncos have won six-straight meetings in the all-time series, with an 89-69 rout in Pomona in this year's initial matchup back on Jan. 9 ... CPP has won its last two at Cal State LA ... Greg Kamansky is 413-165 (.715) over his career and 307-119 (.721) in CCAA play ... In the Kamansky era, the Broncos are 112-53 as a nationally-ranked squad.