Toros Men Defeat CSLA Getting Road Win, 77-74
January 23, 2002

Complete Box Score

LOS ANGELES -- Cal State Dominguez Hills (4-12, 3-8 CCAA) used hot shooting in the first half and withstood a couple of Golden Eagle runs in the second half to knock off Cal State L.A. (6-10, 4-7 CCAA) on Wednesday night in the Eagles Nest, 77-74.

The Toros never trailed in the game, opening the scoring with a jumper by Michael Crawford on CSUDH's initial possession. The CSUDH lead opened up to as much as 23-6 on an Ernie Burries three-pointer with 6:59 left in the period. They would lead by 16 points (36-20) at the break.

The Toros hit a torrid 53.3 percent (16-30) from the field in the first half while CSLA managed just 23.1 percent (6-26).

The Golden Eagles rallied in the second half, going on a 14-0 run, culminating on a Ricky Smith three-pointer with 14:30 left, to close the gap to five points at 39-34. CSUDH slowly pushed the lead back to 14 points at 65-51 on an Earl Rowland dunk with 6:30 remaining in the game.

CSLA rallied again, this time getting a dunk by Jonathan Levy with 3:02 left to trim the deficit to 67-61. The margin was just two points (73-71) after a Ronald Johnson jumper with 29 seconds left. After a foul, Rowland was fouled and connected on both free throws for a 75-71 score. CSLA failed to score on their possession, and Crawford found himself open for a dunk on the opposite end of the floor to seal the win for Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Michael Crawford paced CSUDH with 27 points and six boards while Jacob Poole (22 points, 6 rebounds) and Kevin Blunt (11 points, 6 rebounds) also scored in double figures for the Toros.

CSLA's Johnson led all players with both 31 points and eight rebounds, including a 13-of-17 effort from the free throw line. Nic Vavakin added 16 points and six boards for Cal State L.A., followed by Ricky Smith and Jonathan Levy with 11 points apiece.

The two teams meet again on Saturday night in the second half of the home-and-home series. Tipoffs at CSUDH are slated for 5:30 p.m. (women) and 7:30 p.m. (men).