March 4, 2006
Box Score
Seaside, CA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills junior Shamont Brown (Jamaica, NY/Riverside CC) tallied a team-high 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting as the Toros survived a 75-74 overtime thriller at Cal State Monterey Bay in their regular season finale Saturday night, closing out the 2005-06 season at 11-16, 8-12 CCAA. With their eight wins, CSUDH surpassed last season's conference will total by two games, and 2004-05's overall win total by four contests.
The hosts took charge at the game's outset, taking a slim 10-4 lead with just under four minutes elapsed in the first 20-minute frame. Two buckets by Mike Steed (Antelope, CA/Center HS) and a free throw by Trevon Bryant (Tifton, GA/Compton CC) gave the Toros a one-point lead, and ignited a scoring surge that saw CSUDH roar back to take a 23-14 advantage at 10:20, the last on a Brown jumper. The Otters would trim the Toro lead to one at 25-24 with just 4 1/2 minutes remaining, but two jumpers by Brown and one each by Bryant and Durwin Williams (Compton, CA/Glendale CC) would give CSUDH a 33-26 lead entering intermission.
After the half, CSUDH kepts its lead intact, increasing it to 50-41 on a Jonathan Toliver (Inglewood, CA/Westchester HS) bucket halfway through the second period. The Toros' lead remained at seven with 6:45 left in the game, until a Jay Demaestri trey cut the lead to four, which gave the hosts signs of life. A D'Shon Cannon jumper brought the CSUDH lead to just two, but another Toliver bucket and a swish by Carlos Rivers (Long Beach, CA/LA Valley College) gave the Toros breathing room at 62-56 with just under four minutes left in regulation. CSUMB, however, would not relent, cutting the margin to just two on another DeMaestri bucket with 1:27 left, and knotting the game in thrilling fashion as Darryl Anderson connected on a 3-pointer as time expired.
In the extra session, CSUMB took its first lead since the game's opening minutes on a Cannon long-range bomb, but Steed would answer that with a trey of his own to knot the contest at 69-69. A Brown jumper gave the Toros a two-point lead with 0:48 left, and two free throws by Rivers would give CSUDH a two-possession cushion with just seven ticks left on the clock. Although Anderson would connect on another trey as seconds wound down, it was not enough as CSUDH escaped with the one-point win, sweeping the season series from the Otters.
Steed contributed 11 points while Rivers chipped in 10 in the second-consecutive Toro win, while Bryant notched six blocks on the evening in the thriller. Bryant and Brown shared team-high rebounding honors with seven apiece, while the Toro defense limited CSUMB to an inefficient 35.1 shooting percentage from the field. Anderson led the Otters with 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while Devougn Lamont, who became only the third Otter to eclipse the 1,000-point mark, added 15 points in the loss.
CSUDH will return an experienced group of seniors next season in Shamont Brown, Durwin Williams, Carlos Rivers and Trevon Bryant, and two talented juniors in Mike Steed and the electrifying Nonso Nibo (Westchester, CA/St. Bernard's HS) as it looks to make a dent in the always competitive CCAA Conference.
