Box score

Costa Mesa, CA -- Host Vanguard University stormed to a 15-point first half lead and increased the advantage to as much as 21 points halfway into the second half as the Lions won their fifth-straight contest, and second-consecutive over a CCAA opponent, in a 76-69 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills tonight.   Junior Rodney Yearby paced the Toros, now 4-3 overall, with 14 points and 5 rebounds.

The Toros were in the game early, holding a 14-10 advantage a 3-pointer by Jonathan Toliver at the 13:31 mark of the first half.  Things quickly went south for CSUDH as VU ran off 12-consecutive points to take control of the contest over a four-minute stretch, increasing its lead to 33-18 on a Greg Gusiff trey at 7:32.

CSUDH whittled away at its deficit by cutting the Lion lead to four with just 13 ticks left in the half, but two foul shots by Dennis Heenan gave the hosts a 7-point cushion and breathing room entering the half.

VU started hot after the break, pushing its lead to double figures just 91 seconds into the second period, increasing it to 55-40 at 14:03 and to 63-42 at 11:02.  Yearby breathed some life into the Toros offense with a trey and two buckets to bring CSUDH back to within striking distance at 67-59 with 3:35 left in regulation, and a 3-pointer by Ryan Walton with 46 seconds left cut VU's lead to 73-69.

However, the Lions sank three of their final four free throw attempts in the closing seconds to come away with the 76-69 win.

In a close statistical contest, VU nailed 49.1% of its shots compared to 44.4% for the Toros, while hitting six 3-pointers to four for CSUDH.  However, its staters were the difference in this non-conference match-up as the Lions' starting five outscored the Toros' by a whopping 46-27 margin in their win.

In addition to Yearby's 14, Jerrell Smith provided a spark off the bench with 12 points, while Jamaal Barnes, Mike Steed and Jamel Ward chipped in with 8 points apiece.

VU, on the other hand, was led by Gusiff's 13 points, Andrew Ellis' 12, Tony Trajceski's 11 and Arvydas Vaitiekus' 10 in the Lion win.

CSUDH will conclude its 2007 calendar schedule on Friday, December 21, as Mesa State pays Carson a visit for the two teams' first ever meeting, with first tip scheduled for 7:30 pm in the Torodome.