Box Score

CARSON -- Cal State Dominguez Hills junior Jalen Brown really wants to be like Mike.  Named the California Collegiate Athletic Association's men's basketball Athlete of the Week on Tuesday after scoring 23 points in both road games last week, Brown again poured in a game-high 23 points in a nearly flawless performance in which he shot 8-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line in leading the Toros to a convincing 92-73 win over visiting UC Merced tonight in the Torodome.

CSUDH improves to 9-4 overall and 5-2 in CCAA action after sinking 59.3% of its shots from the floor (35-for-59), making nearly 40% of its 3-point attempts (7-for-18), and draining 83.3% of its free throws (15-for-18).

Dasean Stevens added 14, Josiah Sanders and Luke Lin 13 apiece, and Za-Ontay Boothman 10 to give the Toros five players in double-figure scoring.

Brown continued his hot shooting from last weekend by scoring the game's first bucket, with a Stevens triple on their next possession giving the Toros an early 5-3 lead.  A pair of Brown freebies pushed CSUDH's lead to 7-3 before the two teams kept to within four points of the each other halfway through the period.

After a Boothman bucket in the paint brought CSUDH's edge to 21-17 at 10:52, CSUDH went on a 14-5 run over the next three minutes, punctuated by a deep triple by Boothman to push the Toro lead to 35-22 with just over seven minutes left in the half.

A Stevens bucket three minutes later gave the Toros their largest lead of the game at 41-27 before they entered the break up 46-36.

The Toros continued to keep the Bobcats at arm's length to begin the second half, again regaining a 14-point edge at 62-48 after an old-fashioned 3-point play by Sanders at the 10:08 mark.

Lin, who played tenacious defense and repeatedly frustrated Merced's big man Elijah Charles, sank two free throws 90 seconds later for a 67-52 Toro lead, with Brown giving the Toros their largest lead of the night at the 3:58 mark, hitting a free throw for an 84-62 lead.

CSUDH's lead hovered around 20 points the rest of the way, allowing head coach Steve Becker to clear his bench.  Freshman Wesley Trevino made it count by scoring the first two points of his college career on a putback in the paint, eliciting a raucous roar from the Toro crowd and bench.

The Toros, winners of two straight, will look to make it three in a row on Saturday as Stansialus State visits Carson for a 3 pm tip in the Torodome.