CARSON -- Fresh off its No. 19 ranking by the National Association of Basketball Coaches yesterday, the Cal State Dominguez Hills men's basketball team fought-through a spell of second-half malaise en route to a 75-66 win over visiting Vanguard University.  Senior forward James Cawthorne posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards after nailing 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.

The Toros scored the first six points of the game, before a Vanguard three by Ryan Andrews brought the Lions to within 12-11 with just over five minutes elapsed.  That seemed to inspire the hosts as CSUDH went on a 21-15 run over the next 12 minutes, with the final two points coming on a  pair of Amir Aguilar free throws, before the Toros went into the break up 40-32.

CSUDH increased its edge to double-figures at the 14:51 mark after a Cawthorne put-back in the paint, stretching it to 62-46 on a Zareh Zargaryan lay-up after a nifty spin move eluded his Lion defender.

VU fought back, however, cutting its deficit to 11 at the 5:34 mark, prompting head coach Damaine Powell to call his starters back into the game.

That move prompted an 8-0 run, highlighted by a monster one-handed alley-oop jam from Marcquintice Davis to reigning CCAA Player of the Week Michael Cox, which sent the pre-Thanksgiving Torodome crowd into a frenzy.

The Lions, however, again clawed their way back into striking distance at 71-61 on the third Alex Chapman free throw after he was fouled behind the 3-point line, prompting yet another wholesale substitution by Powell at the 1:38 mark.

This time, however, VU's deficit hovered around 12 until a Chris Pynch triple with 3 seconds left accounted for the game's final tally.

Cox finished with a game-high 16 points and 6 blocks, the latter putting him in a second-place tie on the all-time single-season list for blocks in a single game.

As a team, CSUDH shot 47.5% while holding VU to just 30.5% on the night.  Three-pointers kept the visitors in the contest after nine makes, while VU blistered the nets from the free throw line, sinking 21 of 24 attempts.

The rebounds, however, were decidedly in CSUDH's favor by the tune of 49-30.

The Toros, now 4-0, kick off CCAA play against their cross-town rival Cal State L.A. on Saturday, with first tip set for 5:00 pm on the Dave Yanai Court in the Torodome.  The game can be seen live via internet TV on www.GoToros.com/live.