San Francisco, Calif.--- In both team's California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener of the 2005-06, it was the visiting Toros of Cal State Dominguez Hills (1-3, 1-0 CCAA) defeating the San Francisco State University Gators 86-84 in overtime.

CSUDH started the game off strong taking a 15-7 lead in the first eight minutes of the first half. The Toros increased that lead to nine (19-10) with 10:49 to go on two free throws by Mario Malave. SF State went on an 11-2 run in the next two minutes to tie the game at 21-21 with 8:10 left on a lay-up by Kelan Joshua. On their next possession, the Gators took their first lead 22-21 on one of two free throws made by Lawrence Metz with 8:01 left in the half.

The Toros followed that with a 9-4 run in the next four minutes to take a 30-26 lead on a jumper by Malave. SF State tied the game at 30-30 with 2:40 left on two free throws by Metz. CSUDH finished the half on a 7-2 run to take a 37-32 lead into the locker room at half-time.

The second half started with the Toros taking a nine-point lead (47-38) in the first four minutes of the half. The Gators took its first lead of the second half when they went on a 12-3 run capped by two free throws by Zack Johnson to give SF State a 52-50 lead at the 10:04 mark.

The Gators and the Toros went back and forth until SF State took a 68-63 lead with 3:40 left in regulation on a three-pointer by Metz. Malave gave the Toros the lead back (73-72) with 1:19 to go as he capped a 10-5 run with a made lay-up.

SF State regained the lead on a jumper by Metz with less than a minute to go (74-73). The Toros missed a jumper on their next possession. The Gators were fouled with 22 seconds left, but they just connected on 1 of 2 attempts from the line to give them a 75-73 lead. With 16 seconds left in regulation, Carlos Rivers tied the game at 75-75 on a lay-up for the Toros. SF State missed its chance to tie the game in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.

The Toros started the overtime on an 8-2 run to take a 83-77 lead with 2:56 left on Malave's dunk. CSUDH kept the lead between 4 and 6 in the next two minutes until Metz connected on a three-pointer with nine seconds left to cut the Toros' lead to 85-82. Jonathan Toliver was fouled on the next possession and connected on one of his two attempts from the charity stripe to increase CSUDH's lead to 86-82 with eight seconds left. The Gators' Kajahl Benes scored the games' final bucket as time expired to make the final 86-84 Toros.

“I was very proud of our effort, enthusiasm and heart,” stated SF State Head Coach Bill Treseler. “We need to learn to finish games, but Cal State Dominguez Hills hit some big shots and we will be back,” added Treseler.

Mario Malave had 23 points to lead the way for the Toros while Carlos Rivers added 22 and Shamont Brown had 16.

Metz finished the night with a game high 24 points for the Gators and grabbed 8 rebounds. He was 7 of 15 from the field including 4 of 9 from three-point territory. Will Logan finished the night with 17 points for SF State (0-3, 0-1 CCAA) while Oscar Edwards added 12 points.