January 1, 2006

Box Score

Carson, CA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills junior Shamont Brown's (Jamaica, NY/Riverside CC) 14 second-half points keyed a spirited Toro rally, but visiting Cal State Bakersfield withstood two great CSUDH looks at the basket with time running out and hit a pair of free throws with 0.9 seconds left in regulation to take the 79-76 barnburner. With the loss, CSUDH falls to 3-6, 1-2 CCAA, while CSUB improves to 7-2, 3-0 CCAA.

The Toros took control to begin the contest, taking an 8-3 lead at 18:19 on a Brown jumper. The 'Runners would trim the deficit to 10-9 over the next three minutes, but the Toros would outscore CSUB 19-5 over the next six minutes to take their largest lead of the first half at 29-14 on a Jonathan Toliver (Inglewood, CA/Westchester HS) 3-pointer.

The visitors, however, would stage their own rally to close the period, tying the contest at 31-31 on a Demetrius Orme 3-ball with just 3:09 remaining on the clock, and taking their first lead of the contest on the next possession, courtesy of a Dwuan Rice jumper.

The see-saw battle would continue over the final minutes as a Mario Malave (Emeryville, CA/Bakersfield College) 3-point bomb accounted for the final points of the half and sent the Toros into intermission with a slim 39-38 lead.

Cal State Bakersfield would come out strong after the break, outscoring the Toros 23-10 over the first seven minutes to take a sizeable 61-49 lead.

Behind Brown's 14 points after intermission, however, CSUDH would trim the lead to 63-61 at the 9:11 mark, and bring momentum the Toros' way. CSUB would answer with six-consecutive points to push the lead back to eight, but another Toliver 3-ball would cap a 7-2 run that would bring CSUDH to within 71-68 with 6:10 left in regulation.

Following a CSUB bucket, consecutive Brown buckets and a jumper by Malave gave the Toros a 74-73 lead with just over three minutes to go, setting the stage for the furious final minutes.

The 'Runners would regain the advantage on an Antonio Griffin jumper, but a Brown layup 18 seconds later brought the lead back to the Toros. Griffin, however, would provide what would turn out to be the final answer, connecting on a jumper at the 1:38 mark to give the 'Runners the lead at 77-76. As time wound down, the Toros had two chances for the victory, but a Carlos Rivers (Long Beach, CA/LA Valley College) three-foot floater and Brown offensive rebound and attempted putback would prove unsuccessful, prompting CSUDH to foul CSUB's Griffin, who would sink two foul shots with :09 left in regulation and seal the win for the 'Runners.

Brown finished with a game-high 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting for the Toros, chipping in a team-high six boards in the loss. Malave contributed 16 points while Rivers and Toliver each connected for 12 points to round out the Toros' double-figure scorers.

Griffin led the 'Runners with 19 points, and was bolstered by 17 points each by Randall Harding and Orme, and 14 points by Rice in the CSUB three-point win.

The Toros shot a solid 51.7% from the field, but CSUB topped that effort with a 56.4% success rate of its own, including a sharp-shooting 68% in the pivotal second half.