CSUDH Men's Basketball Weekly Release
February 12, 2002

THIS WEEK IN CSUDH MEN'S BASKETBALL
Feb. 15 CSUDH @ UC San Diego RMAC Arena, 7:30 pm
Feb. 16 CSUDH @ Grand Canyon University Antelope Gym, 7:30 pm

WHAT'S ON TAP: The Toros 5-game winning streak came to an end Saturday night as CSUDH lost to No. 4-ranked CS San Bernardino 65-57. The team is now 8-13 overall and 7-9 in CCAA play. The squad will look to begin another streak this weekend at UC San Diego and Grand Canyon University.

TOROS FIVE-GAME WIN STREAK SNAPPED BY CS SAN BERNARDINO: Cal State San Bernardino had four players score in double figures as the No. 4-ranked Coyotes put a stop to the Toros five-game winning streak on Saturday night with a 65-57 California Collegiate Athletic Association victory. CSUDH was down by five points at halftime 33-28 after leading most of the first half. CS San Bernardino took the lead for good 19-16 at 7:59 on a three-point basket by Lance Ray. The Coyotes started the second period on a 8-2 run to forge a 41-30 lead with 16:29 left in the game. Over the next 10 minutes, Cal State Dominguez Hills cut the deficit to six points on an offensive rebound and dunk by Michael Crawford making it 51-45 with 6:49 remaining. San Bernardino would build the lead back to 10 points with a small 7-3 run giving them a 58-48 lead with 3:41 left. The Toros answered cutting the lead to four points twice in the final two minutes but CSUSB would make 7-8 of their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the CCAA win. The Toros were led by Jacob Poole who poured in a game-high 20 points while Kevin Blunt and Michael Crawford each had 11 points. Senior center Kevin Blunt and junior forward Michael Crawford each had seven rebounds to lead the team.

TOROS STOP BRONCOS 69-59 TO EXTEND WIN STREAK: Kevin Blunt led the Cal State Dominguez Hills men's basketball team to their fifth consecutive win scoring 28 points, 20 of them in the second half, and grabbing 12 rebounds as the Toros defeated Cal Poly Pomona 69-59 in California Collegiate Athletic Association conference action Friday night in the Torodome. CSUDH never trailed in the game and raced out to a 15-point lead eight minutes into the game 21-6 with 12:44 left in the first half. In that span, Blunt scored 8 of the Toros points while junior forward Michael Crawford poured in 7 points. Cal Poly would trim the lead to eight points 21-13 with a 7-0 run capped on a 12-foot jumper by Raymond Hubbard with 10:04 left in the half. The Toros would build the lead back up to 14 points two more times before halftime, but Pomona closed out the period on a 7-2 run and went into the break down by nine points 34-25. In the second half, the Broncos came out hot going on a 11-4 run to make it a two-point ballgame 38-36 with 15:43 capped by two free throws from Steve Lambert. Both teams would literally trade baskets over the next 11 minutes before Blunt's offensive rebound and put back sparked a 13-5 run giving CSUDH a 67-56 lead with only :29 seconds remaining in the game. In that run, Blunt scored eight of the Toros points including three baskets in a row at one point. Blunt sealed the win making two free throws with :21 seconds left on the clock. The Toros were led on the night by Blunt's 28 points and 12 rebounds while Michael Crawford also registered a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards. CSUDH also got double figures from Jacob Poole who chipped in with 13 points and a game-high 7 assists.

CCAA LEADERS: The Toros have several players among the top 10 in various CCAA statistical categories. Jacob Poole and Kevin Blunt are among the top 5 in scoring. Poole is second averaging 19.8 ppg while Blunt is fifth pouring in 16.6 ppg. Blunt leads the league in field goal percentage making .509 of his shots. Poole ranks sixth connecting on .477 of his shot attempts. Poole leads the CCAA in assists dishing out 5.19 apg. Blunt is third in the conference in rebounding grabbing 8.2 rpg. In the steal department, Poole ranks second and freshman guard Earl Rowland sixth with 2.4 and 1.7 spg averages respectively. Poole's .811 FT% ranks him third in league while Rowland's .759 mark ranks him 8th. Blunt is 4th in the conference averaging 1.0 blocks per game. He is also third in the league in double-doubles with 6 on the year. As a team, the Toros rank third with a .700 free throw percentage. The squad is also fifth in field goal percentage defense holding the opposition to a .425 shooting percentage from the floor.

SCOUTING UC SAN DIEGO: UC San Diego enters the week with a 7-16 overall mark and a 4-12 record in league play. The Tritons are on a four-game losing streak and are coming off an 82-89 loss versus CS Bakersfield. The Tritons are looking forward to getting back home after playing their last five games on the road. In the previous meeting, CSUDH defeated UCSD 87-81. All-time, the Toros lead the series 4-1. Sophomore forward Ryan Swed leads the team averaging 10.4 ppg and is tied for the team lead in rebounding averaging 5.4 rpg. Senior guard Nick Christensen follows pouring in 10.2 ppg. Junior forward Jody Woods is tied with Swed grabbing 5.4 rpg. As a team, UCSD is shooting .418 from the floor and .328 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Tritons have taken 609 three-point shots compared to only 304 from the opposition.

ABOUT GRAND CANYON: The Antelopes come into the week with an 8-13 record and a 5-9 mark in CCAA play. Grand Canyon snapped a mini two-game losing streak with an 82-81 overtime road victory Saturday night at Cal State Stanislaus. GCU defeated CSUDH in the CCAA opener earlier this season in Carson 72-66. The Antelopes are led by junior guard Del Somers who is averaging 17.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg. Senior guard Jovian Dobrzenski is the only other player close to double figures chipping in 9.4 ppg. As a team, GCU is shooting .430 from the field but is allowing the opposition to make .468 of their shots. The Antelopes are hitting .270 of their long range attempts while allowing their opponents to making .349 of their shots from beyond the 3-point line.

LEADING THE TOROS: Senior point guard Jacob Poole leads a quartet of CSUDH players in double figures averaging 19.8 ppg. Poole also paces the squad with 39 steals and dishing out a team-best 5.2 assists per game. Kevin Blunt is second on the team averaging 16.6 ppg and leads the team in rebounding grabbing 8.2 rpg. Junior forward Michael Crawford is knocking in 11.1 ppg while freshman guard Earl Rowland is chipping in 10.2 ppg. As a team, the Toros are shooting .445 from the field while holding their opponents to .425 from the floor. CSUDH is making .333 of their long range shots but allowing the opponents to a .354 mark from beyond the 3-point arc.

TOROS MATCH 2000-01 MARK: With eight games left in the season, the Toros have already posted as many victories as last year's team. In 2000-01, CSUDH finished with a 7-19 overall record and 6-16 mark in CCAA play. Currently, the Toros are 7-12 overall and 6-8 in league play.

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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