CSUDH Suffers First Conference Loss in Dropping 68-66 Thriller to UC San Diego
Junior Eric Crookshank leads Toros with double-double in defeat
January 3, 2004

Complete Box Score

Carson, CA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills junior Eric Crookshank (Vallejo, CA/Chabot JC) led the Toros with a game-high 12 boards and 11 points, but visiting UC San Diego boasted two players with 19 points and sunk 86% second-half free throws to come away with a thrilling 68-66 decision over CSUDH on Saturday at the Torodome.

The Toros drop to 5-4, 3-1 CCAA, while the Tritons improve to 3-6, 3-1 CCAA.

The two teams played even from the outset, tying six times in the first 20-minute frame. Rodney Terrell (San Jose, CA/San Jose CC) had the hot hand for the Toros in the first half, sinking 5-of-6 shots from the field, four shots of which came via his patented 10-foot jumper. Crookshank provided the Torodome its highlight of the first half, taking an alley-oop from Antoine Griffin (Long Beach, CA/CS Monterey Bay) and throwing down a monstrous dunk at the 10:51 mark. Jamel Gay (Carson, CA/Artesia HS) gave the Toros a 33-30 lead with 2:26 left in the half, but a three-pointer by UCSD's Brandon Francis :24 later knotted the game at 33-33, sending the teams into the locker room tied at the half.

Both teams continued to battle after intermission, with neither team securing more than a two-point lead with eight minutes elapsed in the second half. Two jumpers and two free throws by Ryan Meilleur (Lakewood, CA/Artesia HS) in a 19-second span gave the Toros their biggest lead of the night at 53-47, but two free throws by Brandon Francis and a bucket each by Matthew Conti and Jesse Boyd brought the Tritons back, knotting the game at 53-53 with 8:04 left in the game. UCSD used that momentum to take a 66-63 lead with just over a minute left in the contest, giving the visitors a one-possession lead.

On the ensuing CSUDH possession, Geovanny Aispuro (Long Beach, CA/Cerritos JC) launched a three-pointer which found the bottom of the net with :47 left in the game, but the referree had signaled a Toro timeout just prior to Aispuro's release, nullifying the potential game-tying bucket. Aispuro made good on a second chance, however, knocking down three free throws with :23 remaining, but two Boyd free throws with :16 left gave the Tritons the ultimate victory. A desperation shot by Aispuro with :04 left just grazed the bottom of the net, handing CSUDH its first conference loss of the season.

Griffin led the Toros with 13 points and six assists, while Terrell contributed a career-high 10 points, all in the first half.

UCSD's Francis and Boyd each garnered a game-high 19 points while Matthew Sweany contributed 11 in the Triton victory.

Cal State Dominguez Hills travels north to San Francisco State and Sonoma State the weekend of January 9-10, before returning home to host Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Stanislaus the weekend of January 16-17. Tipoff for all games is at 7:30 p.m.