CARSON -- Cal State Dominguez Hills' David Cheatom and Luke Lin (pictured) combined for 45 points on 19-of-27 shooting from the floor as the Toros used a 44-28 second half to put away a pesky Cal State San Marcos squad tonight in the Torodome.

The win keeps the Toros in second place in the CCAA standings with five games left in the regular season, and pushes their record to 17-6 overall and 13-4 in the CCAA.

Coming off a resounding loss at No. 3 Cal State East Bay last Saturday, CSUDH uncharacteristically found itself in a battle with a team stuck in the middle of the league standings despite hitting 60.7% of its shots from the floor in the first half. 

Cheatom and Lin carried the load by scoring 26 of the team's 39 points, with Lin's 3-pointer as the first half expired giving the Toros a 39-38 lead entering the break.

Whatever head coach Steve Becker said at halftime seemed to inspire the Cardinal and Gold as the Toros went on a 17-7 run to begin the second half, the final two points coming on a Za-Ontay Boothman triple at the 11:17 mark, giving CSUDH a 56-45 lead.

The Toros continued to hit from deep as 3-pointers by Boothman and Lin pushed the lead to 14, with a monstrous dunk by Josiah Sanders following a Toro misfire from deep sent the Torodome crowd into a frenzy and gave the hosts a 72-56 lead with 4:17 left in regulation, all but putting the game away.

Lin and Cheatom continued to sizzle, combining for nine of the Toros final 11 points in the 17-point win.

Cheatom finished with 25 and Lin 20, with Sanders chipping in 16 and Boothman 11, with Sanders pulling down seven rebounds to lead the hosts.

The Toros knocked down 61% (36-of-59) of their field goal attempts, and 50% (10-of-20) of their 3-pointers.  The Cardinal and Gold also won the rebound battle (30 to 22), leading to a commanding 40 to 18 advantage in points in the paint.

CSUDH will look to make it two straight on Saturday when Cal State Monterey Bay visits Carson for a 3 pm tip.
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