CSUDH Men's Basketball Weekly Release No. 6
January 13, 2003

UPCOMING GAMES THIS WEEK...
vs. San Francisco State/Friday, Jan. 17/7:30 PM
vs. Sonoma State/Saturday, Jan. 18/7:30 PM

TOROS PROBABLE STARTERS:
G-3-Geovanny AISPURO (6-1, Jr., 3.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
G-31-Justin GOREE (6-4, Sr., 13.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
C-34-Ryan MEILLEUR (6-8, Fr., 10.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg)
F-20-Andre' BROWN (6-5, Sr., 9.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg)
F-23-Michael CRAWFORD (6-6, Sr., 7.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg)

QUICK RECAP:
CSUDH split its CCAA weekend and broke a five-game losing streak in the process with an exciting 73-71 win over then first place Grand Canyon. The Toros lost to UC San Diego the night before, 62-57. The Carson squad is now 4-7 overall and 2-4 in CCAA play putting them in 10th-place all alone.

TOROS SURPRISED BY UC SAN DIEGO, 62-57:
The Toros suffered its first loss in 25 years to visiting UC San Diego last night by a score of 62-57. CSUDH held a slim 32-30 halftime lead and led by as many as six points early in the second half. But UCSD got 15 second-half points from Sean Crawford en route to 20 on the night to go on for the CCAA win. The Tritons sealed the victory by making 6-7 from the foul line over the final three minutes of action. One bright spot for the Toros was freshman guard Saul Lankster (Long Beach/Compton Centennial HS) who came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points on 6-11 from the field including a blistering 5-7 from behind the 3-point line. Senior Justin Goree (Fairfield, CA) added 16 points in the loss. Senior Andre' Brown came off the bench to pull down a game-high seven rebounds.

GOREE'S LAST-SECOND LIFTS TOROS TO WIN OVER GRAND CANYON:
Justin Goree's three-point basket with three seconds left in the game propelled Cal State Dominguez Hills to a thrilling 73-71 come-from-behind win over Grand Canyon University Saturday night in the Torodome. After GCU took a 12-point lead into the half 41-29, the Antelopes opened up an 18-point margin in the first five minutes of the second period. That is when the Toros started to chip away. CSUDH answered with a 17-3 run over the following six minutes to trim the lead to 54-50 with 10:59 remaining. GCU built the lead back to double digits five different times over the next six minutes, but the Toros, coming off a heartbreaking loss to UC San Diego Friday night, wouldn't fold. With the Antelopes holding a 70-60 lead with 4:38 left, the Toros defense held the visitors to one point while reeling off 13, including three 3-point baskets by Goree to go on for the improbable victory. Down 71-70 with 3.5 seconds left, Goree connected from long range with a man in his face for the game-winning shot. Goree led CSUDH with 18 points while going 7-13 from the field including 4-6 long-range. Frosh center Ryan Meilleur (Artesia HS) followed with 17 points and tied with a game-high eight rebounds. Junior forward Lamar Lawrence (Bishop Montgomery HS) came off the bench to spark the Toros with 11 points in 15 minutes while senior Michael Crawford (Pacoima/Simi Valley HS) poured in 12 on 6-8 shooting.

LANKSTER SITS OUT AFTER SCORING CAREER-HIGH:
Freshman Saul Lankster had to sit out Saturday night's game after scoring a collegiate career-high 18 points, with five three-pointers, against UC San Diego on Friday. Lankster went down in the final minutes of the UCSD game with a right knee injury suffered when he fell and banged it against the hardwood. Further tests will be done in the next few days and his status for this weekend is probable.

TOROS DISPLAY "HEART OF A LION" AGAINST ANTELOPES:
A lot of teams would have folded its tent after being down by 18 points in the second half to a first place team that had won five in a row and six of its past seven games. Especially when you consider that the Toros served up more turnovers (28) than McDonald's does during lunch hour. But the Toros, coming off a surprising loss to UC San Diego the night before, showed a lot of heart in one of the most thrilling comebacks in recent memory, using 17-3 and 13-1 runs to defeat Grand Canyon and snap a brutal five-game losing streak.

FIRST WIN OF 2003 DOESN'T COME EASY:
It took four games for the Toros to win its first game of the New Year. After beginning 2003 with three straight CCAA losses to Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State San Bernardino then UC San Diego, the Toros finally broke into the win column against Grand Canyon. The taste of victory is especially sweet considering the strong opponent and the fashion that the Toros came back to shock the Antelopes.

GOREE HAS CAREER NIGHT FROM DEEP:
Justin Goree went 4-6 from beyond the three-point arc Saturday night tying a career-high for made three-point shots. Goree connected for four long-range shots earlier this year in the Toros season opener against Vanguard University.

TOROS LOOK FOR FIRST BACK-TO-BACK WINS:
CSUDH will look to win two games in a row for the first time this year when it hosts San Francisco State on Friday. But it won't be easy; it never is in the CCAA. The Toros have a respectable 4-2 home record going for them and the momentum in their favor after the electric win on Saturday night. But a strong San Francisco squad looks to spell a two-game losing streak as they travel to SoCal.

LOOKING FOR FOUR MORE:
The Toros are now 2-4 in conference action after the split this past weekend putting them in 10th place in the league standings. The four CCAA losses have been by an average of eight points each, or four baskets. Hopefully, the team gained a little more confidence over the weekend and will take that back onto the court this week to find those four extra missing baskets.

TOROS CONTINUE DOMINANCE ON THE BOARDS:
Rebounding has been a strength for the Toros all season long. That continued on Saturday night with the Carson squad outrebounding Grand Canyon by a whopping margin of 25 boards, 46-21. It was the most rebounds recorded by the Toros this year and the most since its final game of the 2001-02 campaign when it grabbed 53 against CS Stanislaus.

SHOWING IMPROVEMENT AT THE FOUL LINE:
The Toros shot a respectable 69% from the foul line (9-13) on Saturday against Grand Canyon after coming into the weekend with a .542 percentage as a team. CSUDH continues its upward trend at the charity stripe and is now making 56% (114-204) of its free throw attempts.

BENCH DOING ITS JOB:
In six CCAA games, the Toros bench players have been impressive outscoring the opponents bench 141-76. This past weekend, the CSUDH bench outscored UC San Diego (22-9) and Grand Canyon's (33-13) bench by an average of 16.5 points.

TORO INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
Goree continues to pace the team in scoring averaging 13.5 ppg. The senior forward has been on fire all season from 3-point range and is now making 46% (21-46) of his shots. Ryan Meilleur is back up to averaging double figures offensively. He is pouring in 10.2 points and is second on the squad in rebounding pulling down 5.2 a game. The 6-foot-8 center leads the team in shooting percentage (.570), blocks (13) and, even more impressively, steals (15). Andre' Brown leads the team on the glass grabbing 5.5 rebounds a game. He is near the double-digit mark in scoring averaging 9.9 points.

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