This Week in Toros Men's Basketball
January 3, 2006

PDF Version of This Release

This Week in Toros Basketball: The Toros kick off the new year with CCAA Conference match-ups against league leading Cal State Bakersfield on Friday, followed by resurgent Cal State L.A. the next night. First tip for both contests is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Torodome.

Crockett Erupts in Toros’ 50-Point Win: Sophomore Kevin Crockett drained five-consecutive 3-pointers to begin the second half en route to shooting 77% from the field as his 28-point outburst highlighted the Toros’ dominating 99-49 win over visiting Dominican University on December 30 in the Torodome.

After taking a comfortable 41-27 lead into halftime, Crockett single-handedly put the game away for CSUDH after the break, connecting for five treys in a span of six minutes to increase the Toro lead to 64-32. The other Toros would follow Crockett’s lead, pushing the advantage to 87-40 at the 7:15 mark with the last two points courtesy of Trevon Bryant’s monstrous one-handed rim-rattler.

Crockett shot 10-of-13 from the field, including a sizzling 6-for-8 performance from behind the 3-point line. “Super Mario” Malave chipped in with 18 points while Shamont Brown rounded out CSUDH’s double-figure scorers with 17 points of his own, chipping in 10 boards for the game’s sole double-double. As a team, CSUDH out-rebounded DU by a whopping 33 boards (50-17).

There’s No Place Like Home: “Dorothy” may have first said it, but the Toros currently are living it. The Toros continue their hosting duties this weekend against the ‘Runners and Golden Eagles as games 3 and 4 of a six-game homestand. After suffering through four losses in five games away from Carson prior to this homestand, CSUDH has beaten non-conference foes Hope International and Dominican University in its last two home contests, improving its overall record to 3-5.

Scoring Surge: CSUDH went on an offensive rampage in its last two games to close 2005, out-scoring Hope and Dominican by an average of 38 points (95 to 57). The Toros connected for 55% of their shots from the floor, while limiting HIU and DU to a combined 38% shooting from the field, also draining five more 3-pointers than their opponents combined (16 to 11). In addition, the Toros defense has stepped up dramatically, having accumulated more blocks (6 to 1) and steals (24 to 7) than their non-conference foes.

Where’d He Come From?: After scoring just 18 points in his first seven contests, sophomore Kevin Crockett exploded for 28 points in the dominating 50-point win over Dominican University on December 30. By converting 10 of his 13 shots from the field, including 6-of-8 from behind the 3-point line, Crockett gave the Toros yet another long-range offensive option to utilize as the conference season continues.

In one stellar outing, the 6’1” Long Beach native improved his offensive output in not only FG% (24% to 38%) and 3-PT FG% (.09% to 27%), but also in PPG (2.6 to 5.8) and overall points scored (18 to 46).

A Sight for Sore Eyes: After junior Mario Malave was sidelined in the contest at San Diego Christian College, the Emeryville native came back strong in the Toros last two contests against Hope International and Dominican University. Over those two games, Malave poured in 38 points, connecting for 16 of his 26 shots from the field, adding nine boards and two steals in averaging 20 minutes of action.

On the season, Malave is averaging 18.4 points per game, connecting for a solid 56% from the floor while pulling down 5.4 boards per game. In addition, the junior forward has drained 69% of his free throws (20-of-29) and converted his only 3-point attempt of the season.

Quick Starts: After seeing action in two games off the bench to begin the 2005-06 campaign, Durwin Williams made his first three starts in Cardinal & Gold the last three games, and the Compton native has not disappointed. In those three starts, the 6’7” forward has averaged 12.0 points per game on 13-of-25 shooting from the field (52%), including two makes from behind the 3-point arc. Additionally, Williams has been solid from the line by sinking 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.

On the season, Williams is averaging 8.8 points and 4.6 boards per game, including a season-high 10 rebounds in the Toros 91-65 win over Hope International on December 17.

Offensive Highs: Making a surge to close 2005, CSUDH has enjoyed key offensive contributions as it hosts CSUB and CSULA this weekend. In addition to Mario Malave’s 56% success rate from the field bolstering the Toros 46% success rate as a team, Murphy Cooper (58%), Shamont Brown (52%), Durwin Williams (49%), Mike Steed (48%) and Trevon Bryant (47%) give the Toros five other scorers who are enjoying solid efforts from the field.

Lessening the Gap: Though the Toros have had little trouble putting up points on the board, their young and inexperienced defense had struggled of late in trying to stop opponents in the early going. After allowing opponents to make 50% of their shots from the field and 36% from behind the arc in CSUDH’s first six games, the Toros defense has buckled down over their last two contests, limiting Hope and Dominican to collective 38% shooting from the field, and 33% from the 3-point area.

Chairmen of the Boards: Current Miami Heat head coach Pat Riley once coined the phrase “No Rebounds, No Rings” when he coached the L.A. Lakers during the 1980s “Showtime” era. After six games of being out-rebounded by 38 boards, the Toros’ hard work is finally starting to pay off on the glass. During the first six games, CSUDH had out-rebounded its opponents in only two games, each by one board, while tying in the rebound category one time. Alarmingly, in the three other contests in which CSUDH was out-rebounded, the Toros were bested by eight boards in one contest, and by 14 and 18 in the other two.

However, CSUDH has taken charge of the boardroom in its past two games, collecting a total of 40 more boards than their opponents to give CSUDH a slight overall rebounding edge for the year (34.8 to 34.5).

A Matter of Size: In addition to having 11 new faces, this year’s Toros squad also will have an influx of size. Four of the newcomers stand at least 6’7”, compared to last year’s squad, whose tallest player stood at 6’7”. Junior transfer Trevon Bryant tops the Toros with his 6’9” frame, while fellow junior transfer Joe Johnson stands in at 6’8”. Two other juniors make the 6’7” height, as Mario Malave and Durwin Williams will give CSUDH both a presence and depth in the paint the Toros have not seen for a while. For good measure, senior Eric Montgomery comes in at 6’6”, while freshman Jonathan Toliver is at 6’5”.

Toros Continue 2005-06 Basketball Web Cast Schedule With Waldcast.net: CSUDH and Waldcast.net continue their broadcast schedule for the Toros 2005-06 men’s basketball seasons. A total of 15 men’s games will be web cast, including two preseason exhibition contests, all of which can be heard here on the Cal State Dominguez Hills Athletics Website.

The men’s web cast schedule continues in 2006 as the Toros host Cal State Bakersfield on Friday, January 6, with the CCAA clash scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. first tip.

Longtime southland broadcaster Ronnie Wald, who begins his third year as the basketball broadcast voice of the Toros, will be calling the play-by-play.