CSUB Gets Come-From-Behind 70-64 Win Over Cal State Dominguez Hills Men
January 19, 2002

Complete Box Score

BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. Charles Dickens is perhaps best know for his classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities. A lesser know work—though every bit as riveting—was Saturday night’s classic, A Tale of Two Halves, co-authored by the Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s basketball teams.

The dramatic finish revealed a 70-64 win for CSUB at Centennial Garden in Bakersfield. Guards Ramel Curry and Lawrence Charles authored their chapters in the second half. Curry scored all 20 of his points in the period while Charles scored 15 of his 21 in the period.

Charles best effort came during a 14-0 CSUB run during which Charles scored 11 points, helping the Roadrunners turn a 51-43 deficit into their first lead of the game at 57-51 with 7:47 to play. CSDH pulled briefly to within three points but otherwise never closed to within one possession of the lead again.

For the second half, CSUB shot 57.1 percent from the field while holding the Toros to 32.4 percent. That dramatic turnaround was enough to spell the end of CSDH’s upset bid.

Where the second half was all about CSUB, the first half was all about Dominguez Hills. The Toros came out on fire on the offensive end, nailing 7-of-11 three pointers in the period while shooting a sizzling 52 percent from the field. On the defensive end, the Toros began the game in zone which stymied the ‘Runner offense. CSUB shot just 25.8 percent from the field in the period as the Toros built leads as big as 16 points.

While two players wrote the CSUB second half, the Dominguez Hills first half was a collaborative effort. Seven of the eight players who saw action in the first half scored for the Toros, led by guard Jacob Poole, who scored nine of his team-high 19 points in the period.

With CSDH up 31-15, a foreshadowing of the second half came in the form of a late CSUB rally. The ‘Runners trimmed seven points off the deficit with a 9-2 run that made the halftime score 33-24.

In addition to Poole, who added eight assists to his team-high 19 points, center Kevin Blunt and forward Michael Crawford also reached double figures. Blunt scored 16 points while Crawford chipped in 13. Blunt led the Toros with eight rebounds.

In addition to Curry and Charles, senior center Dock Ellis (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Martin HS) enjoyed another monster game on the boards. Ellis followed Friday night’s 20-rebound effort with 19 rebounds Saturday night.

CSUB (14-2, 9-2 CCAA) ran its current winning streak to 11 games with Saturday’s win. The ‘Runners finish the first half of California Collegiate Athletic Association play alone in second place. CSDH falls to 3-12 and 2-8 with Saturday’s loss.

CSDH travels to meet Cal State L.A. Wednesday night. CSUB will take a week off before returning to action next Saturday at Cal State Stanislaus.