Carson, CA -- Junior Mario Malave (Emeryville, CA/Bakersfield College) converted 11-of-15 free throws en route to a game-high 26 points while Durwin Williams (Compton, CA/Glendale JC) tallied the game's sole double-double of 17 points and 14 boards as Cal State Dominguez Hills took a hard-fought 77-68 decision over a feisty Cal State Monterey Bay team Friday night in the Torodome.

With the win, CSUDH's second-straight conference victory, the Toros improve to 6-10, 4-6 CCAA, while the visiting Otters fall to 7-12, 4-5 CCAA.

Both teams were ready from the outset as leads were exchanged four times in the game's first six minutes. Two 3-pointers, courtesy of Williams and Mike Steed (Antelope, CA/Center HS), would give the Toros an 8-6 lead with just under four minutes elapsed in the first half before the visitors would go on a 7-0 run to take the lead back at 13-8 behind four points by Richard Jenkins and three by Jay Demaestri.

CSUDH would answer that run with a 9-4 spurt of its own, tying the game at 17-17 at the 11:04 mark. After tying twice more at 19 and 24, the Toros would use a Carlos Rivers (Long Beach, CA/LA Valley College) jumper and a Jonathan Toliver (Inglewood, CA/Westchester HS) old-fashioned 3-point play to take a 29-24 advantage, before splitting the next 14 points to enter intermission with a 36-31 cushion.

The Toros continued their momentum out of the locker room, using a Malave lay-up to push their lead to 44-34 at the 15:49 mark. Ensuing buckets by Williams, Shamont Brown (Jamaica, NY/Riverside CC) and Rivers brought the Toro lead to 50-34 two minutes later, before yet another Demaestri bomb stopped CSUDH's scoring run at 10-0.

A jumper by CSUMB's Devoughn Lamont and two foul shots by Demaestri cut the Toro lead to 51-43, but successive buckets by Malave and Williams pushed CSUDH's lead back to double figures, giving the Cardinal & Gold a 55-43 advantage with just under 10 minutes left in regulation.

CSUMB would then find its stroke, out-scoring the Toros 18-9 over a six-minute stretch, trimming CSUDH's lead to 64-61 with three minutes left.

Malave, however, would get fouled twice and sink four-consecutive free throws to give CSUDH breathing room, and after Lamont converted just one of two attempts from the charity stripe, a Steed trey gave the Toros a 71-63 lead with just 1:25 remaining.

CSUMB's Jenkins would try to give the Otters life with a jumper and converted free throw, but five points would be as close as the visitors would get as six Toro foul shots down the stretch would seal CSUMB's fate, with Malave's final two conversions closing the scoring at 77-68.

CSUDH used its size and efficiency for a 26-16 advantage in the paint, and 10 more points off turnovers. Malave finished with a 7-for-18 performance while Toliver chipped in 10 points in the Toros win. Rivers, playing limited minutes after returning from the flu, sank all three floor attempts and 3-of-4 shots from the foul line, dishing two assists against zero turnovers.

For CSUMB, Demaestri poured in 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting, including four makes from 3-point land, but picking up his fourth foul at 16:30 in the second half limited his effectiveness on the defensive end down the stretch. Jenkins added 14 points while Lamont, CSUMB's leading scorer, finished with just nine points, 11 below his season average.

The Toros continue hosting duties with a non-conference match-up against Chaminade University on Monday, January 30, before CCAA northern California foes Sonoma State and San Francisco State visit Carson the weekend of February 3-4, with first tip for all contests scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Torodome.