February 25, 2006

Box Score

Carson, CA -- Junior Carlos Rivers (Long Beach, CA/LA Valley College) scored a career-high 31 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field, but visiting UC San Diego enjoyed a 27-to-11 advantage at the charity stripe and withstood a raucous Torodome crowd to escape with an 80-77 overtime win on “Senior Day” in the Torodome. With its fourth-consecutive loss, CSUDH falls to 9-16, 6-12 CCAA, while UC San Diego improves to 14-13, 11-7 CCAA.

After dropping the earlier meeting between the two teams by 33 points back in January, a different Toro squad showed up for the rematch as CSUDH enjoyed a 14-13 advantage with just under nine minutes elapsed in the first half, courtesy of a Durwin Williams (Compton, CA/Glendale JC) 3-pointer.

The visitors would reclaim the lead four possessions later on a Henry Patterson layup before the Toros reclaimed the lead at 20-18 on a Rivers jumper at the 6:24 mark, one of five lead changes in the first 20-minute session.

The Tritons would answer with a mini-run over the next minutes, taking a 25-22 lead on two Patterson foul shots.

The Toros would answer that run with one of their own by out-scoring UCSD 7-1, the last three points coming on another Williams trey, but Clint Allard would connect on two free throws with under a minute left to trim the Toros lead to 29-28 entering the half.

The Tritons would take control to start the second half, jumping to a 40-32 lead on an Andrew Hatch layup. The visitors would keep CSUDH at arm's length, garnering their first double-digit lead of the game at 8:20 on two of Allard's team-high 21 points.

The Toros, however, would ride Rivers' distance game as the junior connected for three 3-pointers in a span of 1:12, with the last trey knotting the contest at 65-65 with 2:10 remaining in regulation.

Two Shane Poppen free throws would give UCSD a 3-point lead with 1:33 to go, but two Rivers free throws and a Jonathan Toliver (Inglewood, CA/Westchester HS) jumper gave the Toros a one-point lead with just 40 ticks left. An Allard foul shot tied the game once again, forcing an extra period.

In the extra frame, UCSD would score the first five points of the session before a Toliver free throw cut the lead to 75-71. After a Shamont Brown (Jamaica, NY/Riverside CC) lay-up with eight ticks left cut the lead to two, Allard misfired on one of two free throw attempts to give the Toros one last chance, but a Brown's 3-point attempt as time wound down sailed wide, giving the Toros a sweep of the season series, 80-77.

Rivers connected on 5-of-6 from 3-point land and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe in a career performance, while Williams' 16 points rounded out the Toros double-figure scorers.

Although the Toros connected for 63% shooting from the field, the Tritons enjoyed a balanced offensive attack as four UCSD players reached double figure totals, led by Allard's 21 points, including 10-of-12 from the foul line, Robby Peters' 14, Patterson's 13 and Poppen's 10.

Saturday night was the final regular season home game for CSUDH senior Eric Montgomery (Moreno Valley, CA/Compton JC), who was honored in a pre-game ceremony. The Moreno Valley native made just his second start of the season, tallying three boards and two points in his final game in the Torodome.

The Toros conclude their 2005-06 regular season on the road as they travel to Cal Poly Pomona on Wednesday, March 1, before their final game of the year at Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday, March 4