CSUDH Men's Basketball Weekly Release
February 19, 2002

THIS WEEK IN CSUDH MEN'S BASKETBALL
Feb. 22 CSUDH @ San Francisco State The Swamp, 8 pm
Feb. 23 CSUDH @ Sonoma State University Cossack Gym, 7:30 pm

WHAT'S ON TAP: Winners of seven of their past eight games, the Toros will close out the road schedule with two games this weekend at San Francisco State and Sonoma State. CSUDH enters the week with a 10-13 overall record and are even in CCAA play at 9-9.

TOROS WIN THIRD ROAD GAME IN A ROW: Cal State Dominguez Hills defeated the Grand Canyon men's basketball team in overtime Saturday night in Antelope Gym, 85-77. The win gave CSUDH its third consecutive win on the road for the first time since the 1995-96 season under former mentor Dave Yanai. The visiting Toros led by one at the break, 38-37, and kept the lead for most of the second half before Canyon tied it up, 72-72, in regulation. In overtime CSUDH pulled away, scoring 13 points to GCU's mere five for the 85-77, victory. Cal State Dominguez Hills had four players in double figures for the evening with senior Kevin Blunt leading all scorer's with his double-double of 25 points and 10 boards. Junior Michael Crawford also had a double- double of 15 points and 11 rebounds in the win, while senior Jacob Poole and senior Ernie Burries added 12 and 10 points respectively. For the game, CSUDH shot 44% including a blazing 57% in overtime.

TOROS SWEEP SEASON SERIES DEFEAT UC SAN DIEGO: Three Cal State Dominguez Hills players topped the 20-point mark as the Toros defeated UC San Diego, 93-83, in CCAA men's basketball action at RIMAC Arena Friday night. A Spirit Night crowd of 1,791 saw CSUDH hit their highest scoring total of the season, as Kevin Blunt led the way with 28 points, followed by Jacob Poole with 26 and Michael Crawford with 20. Blunt shot 71% from the field on 12-17 from the field. Blunt also pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out four assists. Point guard Jacob Poole was also hot shooting 77% from the field making 10-13 shots on the night. Poole also had eight boards and five assists. Crawford was nearly as hot making 64% of his shots from the floor (9-14) while pulling down five rebounds. Junior guard Brandon Erquhart was also in double figures scoring 13 points off the bench on 6-8 shooting. As a team, the Toros shot a blistering 61.3 percent from the floor (38-62).

BLUNT NAMED CCAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Kevin Blunt has been named the Rawlings California Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 11-17 as announced by the league office. Blunt, a 6-7 senior center from San Bernardino, led the Toros to a pair of road victories at UC San Diego and Grand Canyon with powerful inside play. He scored a game-high 28 points on 71 percent shooting (12-17) and added 12 rebounds, 4 assists and a blocked shot to lead the Toros past UCSD, 93-83. Blunt then scored a game-high 25 points on 63 percent shooting (12-19) to go with 10 rebounds and 2 assists as CSUDH defeated Grand Canyon in overtime, 85-77. For the week, Blunt averaged 26.5 ppg on 67 percent shooting (24-36), 11 rpg and 3 assists while committing just three total turnovers. Blunt's performances increased his double-double season total to 8. Cal State Dominguez Hills has won seven of its last eight games.

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 19.7 ppg while Blunt is fifth pouring in 17.4 ppg. Blunt leads the league in field goal percentage making .527 of his shots. Poole ranks sixth connecting on .476 of his shot attempts. Poole leads the CCAA in assists dishing out 5.2 apg. Blunt is second in the conference in rebounding grabbing 8.5 rpg. In the steal department, Poole ranks second and freshman guard Earl Rowland sixth with 2.2 and 1.8 spg averages respectively. Poole's .813 FT% ranks him second in league while Rowland's .754 mark ranks him 10th. Blunt is 4th in the conference averaging nearly 1.0 blocks per game. Blunt leads the league in double-doubles with 8 on the year. As a team, the Toros rank third with a .694 free throw percentage. The squad is also fifth in field goal percentage defense holding the opposition to a .429 shooting percentage from the floor.

THE BITE OF THE GATORS: San Francisco State enters the week with a 12-12 overall record and are in 5th place in the CCAA with a 10-8 mark. SFSU has won five of its past seven games and defeated the Toros in overtime earlier this season in the Torodome (73-71). The Gators are coming off a split this past weekend registering an 82-71 victory at Cal State Stanislaus then dropping a 58-70 decision at Cal State Bakersfield. San Francisco is led by senior forward Jake MacLeod-Roemer who is pouring in 11.2 ppg. Junior forward Steven Hankle follows closely with a 11.1 ppg average while senior guard Reggie Cooks is knocking in 10.3 ppg and is grabbing a team-high 6.1 rpg.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SONOMA STATE: Sonoma State enters the week with a 10-13 overall record and an 8-10 mark in league play. The Cossacks have won two of its past three games and are beginning to rebound from a season-high 7-game losing streak midway through the season. This past weekend, SSU split with a 53-72 loss at Cal State Bakersfield and a 70-65 win at Cal State Stanislaus. Junior guard Deonta Dorrough leads Sonoma scoring 13.3 ppg. Senior forward Harvey Carey follows pouring in 13.1 ppg and is leading the team defensively pulling down 8.3 rpg. Senior center Arinze Anoruo is chipping in with 11.8 ppg and is second on the squad grabbing 7.5 rpg. As a team, SSU is making .442 of its shots while holding the opposition to a .413 mark from the field. The Cossacks are also outrebounding their opponents 37.7 - 36.0.

LEADING THE TOROS: Senior point guard Jacob Poole leads a trio of CSUDH players in double figures averaging 19.7 ppg. Poole also paces the squad with 40 steals and dishing out a team-best 5.2 assists per game. Kevin Blunt is second on the team averaging 17.4 ppg and leads the team in rebounding grabbing 8.5 rpg. Junior forward Michael Crawford is knocking in 11.9 ppg. Freshman guard Earl Rowland is near double figures offensively chipping in 9.7 ppg. As a team, the Toros are shooting .453 from the field while holding their opponents to .429 from the floor. CSUDH is making .323 of their long range shots but allowing the opponents to a .349 mark from beyond the 3-point arc. CSUDH is dead even in the rebounding department with each team grabbing 36.1 rpg.

TOROS SURPASS 2000-01 MARK: With four games left in the season, the Toros have already posted more victories than 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 10-13 overall and 9-9 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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