Toros Return Favor of Home Cooking in 51-49 Win Over CSULA

CARSON -- A month and a half after a first half lead resulted in a loss in the Eagles Nest to kick off the league ledger, Cal State Dominguez Hills turned a halftime deficit into a 51-49 win over visiting Cal State L.A. on the Dave Yanai Court in the Torodome to close the 2011 calendar year. George McGrew had a monster game with 10 boards, 8 points and 3 blocks.

With its fourth-straight win, CSUDH improves to 5-3, 4-2 CCAA, while CSULA falls to 8-2, 4-2 CCAA, and looks forward to kicking off the 2012 calendar year as Sonoma State visits Carson on Friday, January 6, with the game able to be seen live on the Toro Sports Network at www.GoToros.com/live.

The visitors turned a close contest at the outset into a 21-12 lead on a Carl Hoffman free throw halfway through the period, a 9-point edge CSULA enjoyed three times before a Robert Willhite bucket with 53 ticks left in the first half closed CSUDH's deficit to 27-20 entering intermission.

The Toros quickly closed the gap to begin the second half, using a 9-2 run to catch the Golden Eagles, and then a 6-0 run to take a 35-29 lead at the 13:58 mark on a Wayne Andrews lay-up.

CSULA answered with a 5-0 run to close the gap to a single point, only to have CSUDH answer again in taking a 43-35 lead, the last bucket coming via a CJ Carter bucket.

Holding a 5-point lead, the Toros looked to put an emphatic exclamation point after McGrew gathered an offensive board and threw down a two-handed jam with 1:48 left in regulation, but the Golden Eagles countered with a final run to get them to within two with 3 seconds left on a Leland Jones lay-up.

Committing a foul to send the Toros to the line, a CSUDH miss gave CSULA one final gasp, and a 75-foot prayer by Quinton Watkins was nearly answered as it hit the back of the rim in the nail-biter.

Andrews led the Toros with 11 points in the defensive struggle, as neither team reached the 35% mark from the floor.

The foul line was key in the Toro win as CSUDH connected for 11-of-15, compared to just 9-of-17 for the visitors.

Watkins led all scorers with 14 points in the CSULA loss, with Jones chipping in 12 points and 8 boards.

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