CSUDH Men's Basketball Weekly Release
January 16, 2002

THIS WEEK IN CSUDH MEN'S BASKETBALL
Jan. 18 CSUDH @ Cal State Stanislaus Warrior Gym, 8 pm
Jan. 19 CSUDH @ Cal State Bakersfield Centennial Garden, 7:30 pm

WHAT'S ON TAP: The Toros continue CCAA play this weekend travelling to Cal State Stanislaus and Cal State Bakersfield.

TOROS FAIL TO WIN THIRD STRAIGHT: Steven Hankle made a layup at the buzzer in overtime to propel San Francisco State to a California Collegiate Athletic Association win over Cal State Dominguez Hills 73-71 at the Torodome on Saturday night. CSUDH freshman guard Earl Rowland (Palma HS) knocked down two free throws with 16.1 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime. But San Francisco State outscored the Toros 11-9 in the extra period to earn the CCAA conference victory. Cal State Dominguez Hills was up by six points 54-48 with 7:49 left in regulation. However, SFSU answered with a 14-4 run to take a 62-58 lead with 2:17 remaining in the game. The Toros would shutout San Francisco State over the final two minutes while CSUDH senior forward Jonathan Estis' (Morningside HS) layup with 1:57 on the clock and Rowland's free throws sent the game into the extra period. The loss ruined a career night for Rowland who poured in a career-best 26 points on 10-15 from the floor including 4-6 from beyond the 3-point arc. Senior center Kevin Blunt (Pacific HS) scored 17 and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds for the Toros. Senior point guard Jacob Poole (Mt. Carmel HS), who fouled out with just over two minutes left in regulation, knocked in 11 points.

TOROS WIN SECOND IN A ROW, DEFEAT SONOMA STATE: Jacob Poole led the Cal State Dominguez Hills men's basketball team to their second consecutive win for the first time since the 1999-00 season pouring in 24 points en route to the 64-57 victory over Sonoma State University in California Collegiate Athletic Association action last Friday night. The Toros took a 27-19 lead into the intermission on nine first half points by Poole and Kevin Blunt. CSUDH led by as many as 11 points twice in the first half, but Sonoma would go on a 5-2 run to close out the half making it 27-19 at the break. Cal State Dominguez Hills started the second half on a 9-5 run to open the second period to build their lead to 36-24 capped by two free throws by Michael Crawford (LA Valley College) with 12:54 remaining. SSU trimmed the lead to 40-36 with a 12-4 run highlighted by a three-point basket by Matt Knudson. However, CSUDH answered with a 10-1 run over the next three minutes to take their biggest lead of the game 50-37 with 4:50 left. The Cossacks once again trimmed the lead to four points 55-51 on another three-pointer from Knudson with 1:02 remaining, but CSUDH would make their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the conference win. Poole led all with 24 points on 8-16 shooting from the floor. Kevin Blunt recorded his third straight double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. On the night, the Toros outrebounded the Cossacks 40-37.

CCAA LEADERS: Kevin Blunt ranks third in the conference in rebounding and fourth field goal percentage. The senior center is grabbing 8.4 rpg and making .506 of his shots from the field. He also ranks second in blocked shots (1.31 bpg) and is fourth in scoring with a 17.1 ppg average. Freshman guard Earl Rowland is tied for fifth in the league in steals averaging 1.8 spg and fifth in free-throw percentage (.795). Rowland is also now ninth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage making .421 of his shots (16-38). As a team, the Toros rank second in the CCAA in free-throw percentage making .710 of their shots (171-241).

SCOUTING CAL STATE STANISLAUS: Cal State Stanislaus enters the week with a 6-8 overall record and a 3-6 mark in conference play. The Warriors are coming off an 82-73 home loss to UC Davis. In that game, junior guard Coupe Taylor paced the team with 16 points while junior guard Jeff Davenport pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds. On the season, Davenport leads the squad pouring in 17.6 ppg and grabbing 8.3 rpg. Sophomore forward Jamal O'Quinn is averaging 12.9 ppg, mostly off the bench. On the season, CSUS are being outscored 74.1 - 71.3 a game.

ABOUT CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD: Cal State Bakersfield enters the week with a 12-2 overall record and a 6-2 mark in CCAA play which puts them all alone in second place. The Roadrunners are currently riding a nine-game winning streak dating back to Dec. 14. CSUB dropped their first two CCAA tilts of the season, but has since won the last seven league games. CSUB is coming off a 79-59 victory over Chico State last Sunday. In that game, senior center Dock Ellis led the team with a double-double scoring 15 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. The squad suffered a blow last week losing leading scorer and all-american Lemar Gayle with a torn ACL. Gayle was averaging 15.3 ppg and 7.5 rpg before going down with the season-ending knee injury. Without him, however, the 'Runners are still a very formidable team. Seniors Ramel Curry and Todd Jones also are scoring in double figures averaging 11.4 and 10.5 ppg respectively. Dock Ellis leads the squad on the boards pulling down 8.4 rpg. Ellis is near double figures offensively averaging 9.5 ppg. As a team, CS Bakersfield is outrebounding their opponents by ten boards each game (40.4 - 30.4).

ROWLAND ON A ROLL: Freshman guard Earl Rowland is starting to shine on the court and proving that he is one of the top newcomers in the CCAA. He is averaging 11.8 ppg and 3.9 rpg. Over the past four contests, Rowland has been on a hot streak scoring 69 points for a 17.4 ppg average including a career-high 26 points against San Francisco State. Also in that game, Rowland hit two crucial free throws with 16.1 second left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

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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