Riverside, Calif. - The Golden Eagles men's basketball team prevailed in Thursday's, 80-69, win over Pacific Union College. The win pushes La Sierra's record to 3-6 in Cal Pac play (7-16 overall). The team currently sits a game and a half out of a playoff spot with five regular season games remaining.

La Sierra jumped out to an early 9-0 lead, before the Pioneers answered back and took a five-point lead with 5:45 remaining in the first half. By the halftime buzzer, the Golden Eagles regained a slim, 35-32 lead.

The Golden Eagles would not relinquish the lead, as they increased their lead to 14 points, their largest lead of the night, with 10:19 left to play. The Pioneers fought their way back and cut the lead to as many as five points, but the Golden Eagles weathered the storm and hung on for the victory.

La Sierra shot 47 percent for the game, including 54 percent in the second half of play. The team also had one of their best shooting night's of the season, going 7-for-15 (47%) from beyond the arc. They would need all they could get to overcome a season-high 26 turnovers and poor free-throw shooting. La Sierra also won the battle of the boards by a margin of 44-31.

Isaac Deese had 26 points, going 13-for-14 from the charity stripe, and just one point shy of tying his career high. Deese also had five assists to go along with six rebounds. Rey Solorzano finished one rebound shy of a double-double, with 22 points and nine rebounds, shooting 10-of-14 on the night. Rounding out the double-digit scorers was Cameron Jackson who tallied 10 points, a team-high six assists, and seven rebounds.

The team will now set their sights on Simpson University. La Sierra will host the Redhawks, on Saturday night, in a Cal Pac showdown. The Golden Eagles defeated Simpson 73-70 in their first meeting of the season. Saturday's game is scheduled for 8:30pm, after the completion of the women's game.