Toros Dominate Broncos, 84-63, in CCAA Opener

McGrath was a near-perfect 6-of-7 from 3-point land in tonighit's blowout

Box Score

Carson, CA -- Senior point guard Michael Hernandez was as dazzling as junior forward Tim McGrath was efficient, and the result was a convincing 84-63 win over Cal Poly Pomona in the CCAA Conference opener for both teams, giving the Toros their 6th-straight win to start the season, its best start in the program's history.

The game was tight in the early going, with four ties in the first six minutes of play. CSUDH then quickly built a 6-point cushion on a barrage of treys, including one by Jonathan Toliver at 10:49 for an 18-12 lead.

CPP's Tobias Jahn tied the game for the fifth time at 19-19 three minutes later, before the Toros ran off a 25-13 spurt to pull ahead by 12 entering the half, led by McGrath's 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.

The Toros quickly extended their edge after the break, hitting their first 20+ point lead on a Hernandez layup with 16:43 left in regulation. Hernandez continued his hot shooting, hit a foul shot and two more buckets to push CSUDH's lead to 64-38 with just over 13 minutes left.

A Shaun Engle 3-pointer pushed the lead to 27 at 69-42, and another three made the advantage 28 at 74-46 with 8:50 to go, all but putting the game away.

The visitors made the game interesting after the Toros cleared their bench by cutting the lead to 18 with four minutes left, but baskets by Ryan Walton, Engle and by Mike Lofton as the horn expired gave CSUDH its 84-63 win.

Hernandez finished with 11 points and 11 assists, while McGrath drained a season-high 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from three. Toliver added 14 while Engle chipped in with 12 as the Toros won their first conference game of the season since 2005-06. CSUDH sizzled from the floor with its 56.9% shooting, while nearly nailing half its long range attempts in settling for 16-for-35 from behind the arc (45.7%).

CSUDH, now 6-0 for the first time in the program's history and 1-0 in CCAA play, gets a tough challenge tomorrow night as defending CCAA Champion CS San Bernardino visits the Torodome, with tipoff set for 7:30 pm.

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