CSUDH Men's Basketball Weekly Release
January 10, 2002

THIS WEEK IN CSUDH MEN'S BASKETBALL
Jan. 11 CSUDH vs. Sonoma State University Torodome, 7:30 pm
Jan. 12 CSUDH vs. San Francisco State Torodome, 7:30 pm

WHAT'S ON TAP: The Toros continue CCAA play this weekend hosting Sonoma State and San Francisco State on Friday and Saturday night.

TOROS NOTCH FIRST CCAA WIN: The Cal State Dominguez Hills men's basketball chalked up their first league win by defeating UC San Diego 87-81 in the Torodome Saturday night on the hot hand of senior point guard Jacob Poole (Mt. Carmel HS) who poured in a career-high 28 points. The win breaks an eight-game losing streak dating back to early December. Down 37-32 at the break, CSUDH went on a 26-12 run to open the second half to take a nine point lead 58-49 with 12:01 left in the game. During that span, Poole scored 13 of the Toros points going a perfect 5-5 from the field. UC San Diego would climb back into the game answering with a 22-13 run to tie the game 71-71 with 4:21 remaining on a layup by Nick Christensen. CSUDH would take the lead for good in their next possession on a putback by senior center Kevin Blunt (Pacific HS) giving the Toros a 73-71 lead. Cal State Dominguez Hills would build their lead to nine points in the final four minutes before the Tritons' Ryan Swed connected on a three-pointer at the buzzer to account for the final margin. Poole led all with 28 points on 11-14 shooting from the floor while also pulling down eight rebounds. Junior forward Justin Goree (Fairfield HS) and freshman guard Earl Rowland (Palma HS) each recorded career-highs with 21 and 20 points respectively. Kevin Blunt registered his second consecutive double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He also had all of the Toros five blocks in the game.

TOROS DROP EIGHTH STRAIGHT: The Cal State Dominguez Hills men's team just can't shake the monkey off their back as they lost their eighth straight game with a 72-66 loss to Grand Canyon University in California Collegiate Athletic Association action last Friday night in the Torodome. Down by ten points 25-15 with 5:21 remaining in the first half, CSUDH went on a 13-4 run to cut the lead GCU lead to one point 29-28 at the intermission. Senior point guard Jacob Poole registered six of the points during the late first period run. The Toros opened the second half on an 8-3 run to take their first and only lead of the game at 17:27 on a basket by junior forward Justin Goree. But Grand Canyon would answer with a 13-4 run building their lead to seven points 47-40 with 12:12 left in the game. CSUDH would trim the lead to two points three times in the final ten minutes, but could not knock down the crucial basket each of those three times. Kevin Blunt registered his second double-double of the season with a team-high 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Earl Rowland knocked in 16 points including going 4-5 from beyond the 3-point arc. Jacob Poole poured in 14 points and dished out a game-high eight assists. Justin Goree was also in double figures with 10 points on the night.

I'LL TAKE A DOUBLE-DOUBLE PLEASE: Center Kevin Blunt registered two double-doubles this past weekend with 19 points and 11 rebounds against Grand Canyon and 14 points and a career-best 12 boards versus UC San Diego. The 6-7 senior now has three double-doubles on the year while leading the team defensively with 8.4 rpg. Offensively, he is second on the squad pouring in 16.9 ppg. Blunt has scored double figures in every game played thus far.

CCAA LEADERS: Kevin Blunt ranks third in the conference in rebounding and field goal percentage. The senior center is grabbing 8.4 rpg and making .517 of his shots from the field. He also ranks second in blocked shots (1.36 bpg) and is fourth in scoring with a 16.9 ppg average. Freshman guard Earl Rowland is tied for fourth in the league in steals averaging 2.0 spg and fifth in free-throw percentage (.784). As a team, the Toros rank second in the CCAA in free-throw percentage making .695 of their shots (141-203).

ABOUT SONOMA STATE: Sonoma State enters the week with a 7-5 overall mark and in a tie for third place with a 5-2 record in CCAA play. The Cossacks are coming off a 75-68 loss to CS Bakersfield last Saturday after defeating CS Stanislaus the night before 71-53. Junior guard Deonta Dorrough leads the squad in scoring averaging 14.9 ppg. Senior forward Harvey Carey is second with a 13.2 ppg average and leads SSU on the boards pulling down 9.2 rpg. Senior center Arinze Anoruo rounds out the players in double figures averaging 11.6 ppg. He is second on the squad in rebounding averaging 7.1 rpg. As a team, SSU shoots .465 from the field and is outscoring the opposition 77.4 - 72.3.

ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO STATE: San Francisco State enters the week with a 5-8 overall record and a 3-4 mark in conference play. The Gators are on a two-game losing streak having lost both of their games at home this past weekend; a 59-54 defeat to CS Bakersfield and a 68-63 loss to CS Stanislaus. Senior forward Daymian Turner leads SFSU in scoring averaging 11.2 ppg. Senior guard Reggie Cooks follows with 11.1 ppg and leads the Gator squad in rebounding grabbing 6.2 rpg. Senior forward Jake MacLeod-Roemer is also in double figures offensively pouring in 10.4 ppg and is second with 6.1 rpg.

POOLE GOES OFF ON DEEP END: Point guard Jacob Poole went off on Saturday night against UC San Diego. The 5-9 senior poured in a career-high 28 points on 11-14 shooting from the field. He also pulled down eight rebounds and notched five steals. In the six games played this year for Poole, he has scored in double figures in every game and is currently averaging 19.2 ppg.

ROWLAND HEATING UP: Freshman Earl Rowland is starting to come into his own. Against UCSD, the 6-1 guard scored a career-high 20 points including 2-3 from 3-point range. It marked the sixth game in the past eight games Rowland has registered double figures. He is now averaging 11.0 ppg.

Current CCAA Season Standings

HEAD COACH LARRY HAUSER Coach Hauser begins his fifth season on the sidelines for Cal State Dominguez Hills. Hauser has compiled a 34-70 career record in four seasons on the Carson campus. During his first campaign in the 1997-98 season, Hauser led the Toros to a second place league finish.

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