Toros Drop Battle of Boards and Game to Academy of Art

Box Score

LAS VEGAS, Nv. -- One day after being out-rebounded by 11 in a loss to No. 8 Dixie State, the Cal State Dominguez Hills men's basketball team again was out-rebounded by 11, and the result was another loss on the second and final day of the Las Vegas Tournament after Academy of Art took a 62-58 decision over the Toros.

Givon Crump led the Toros with 15 points in the loss as CSUDH drops to 4-6 on the year.

The two teams played even in the first half, despite the Toros taking as large as a 6-point advantage for most of the half until the Knights took a 3 point lead on a pair of Alexis Moore free throws with 75 seconds left before the break, only to have Jason Payne knock down a triple to tie the score with three seconds left in the half.

CSUDH again took control of the contest after intermission as a Crump freebie gave the Toros a 42-35 lead with 11:28 left in regulation.

After one made AAU free throw, Darnell Martin threw down a dunk after stealing the ball to give CSUDH an 8-point cushion at 46-38, its largest of the game a minute and a half later.

The Knights, however, went on a 7-0 run to cut their deficit to just one, and eventually tied the game at 52-52 with 3:19 remaining before taking a 56-52 lead on the last of two Rodrigo Maza made free throws.

Forced to foul, AAU continued to sink its foul shots down the stretch, making its final four of the game to hold off the Toros in the 4-point decision.

Moore led all scorers with 22 points, while Maza pulled down a game-high 9 boards in the AAU win. The Toros earned the decision in the steals column with 9 compared to 5 by AAU, but the 11 rebound edge for the Knights was the game's deciding factor, one that included six more offensive boards.

Neither team excelled from the floor (CSUDH - 34.8% / AAU - 35.3%) nor from long range (CSUDH - 21.1% / AAU - 26.3%), with each squad canceling the other out in turnovers (CSUDH - 16 / AAU - 15).

The Toros will resume CCAA action on Sunday in their home opener, hosting cross-town rival Cal State L.A. for a 3 pm first tip on the "Dave Yanai Court" in the Torodome.

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