No. 7 Toros Grind Out 57-49 Victory at UC San Diego

Box Score

LA JOLLA -- Senior Zareh Zargaryan led all scorers with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field while Van Girard II (pictured) chipped in 11 second-half points off the bench as 7th-ranked cal State Dominguez Hills held off a game UC San Diego squad in RIMAC Arena en route to a hard-fought 57-49 win, keeping pace with Humboldt State atop the CCAA standings.

As with several of their last contests, CSUDH struck first and held firm with a smothering defense to control the rest of the half. UCSD made a run to cut its deficit to 13-11 with 9:41 left in the first half, only to have the Toros go on a 6-0 run to take control of the period for good, eventually settling for a 23-19 lead entering the break.

The hosts starting the second half hot, tying the game at 28 and 31, both on three-pointers. CSUDH, however, would respond with a game-changing 12-3 run, started by an old-fashion three-point play by Girard II with 14:21 to go, only to see UCSD reply with a run of its own to bring the score to 48-47 Toros with 2:40 left on a Christian Hatch jumper.

Following a CSUDH timeout, Robert Willhite hit a three followed by an Amir Aguilar dunk to stretch the lead back to six at 53-47 with 1:06 to go, and a perfect 4-of-4 from the foul line down the stretch by Marcquintice Davis iced the game for the Toros, cementing the 8-point win.

For the game the Toros shot 44.7% from the field while holding the Tritons to 37%. The CSUDH big men inside blocked nine shots compared to three for the Tritons, led by five from Michael Cox, while the Toros out-rebounded UCSD 33-25, and enjoyed a 19-9 advantage on points from the bench.

Now at a program-best 13-1, 9-1 CCAA, CSUDH will return home next weekend to host Sonoma State on Friday, January 21, with first tip set for 7:30 pm on the Dave Yanai Court in the Torodome.

Print Friendly Version