This Week in Toros Men's Basketball
January 9, 2006

PDF Version of This Release

This Week in Toros Basketball: The Toros continue hosting duties, with a pair of CCAA Conference match-ups against Cal State Stanislaus on Friday, followed by Chico State the next night. First tip for both contests is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Torodome.

Toros Drop Two to Begin 2006: CSUDH got off to an inauspicious start to kick off the new year, dropping two home conference contests against Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State L.A.

In the 79-76 loss to the ‘Runners, the Toros held a commanding 15-point lead midway into the first half, only to see 14 points slip away as the period closed. Using that momentum, CSUB outscored CSUDH 23-10 to begin the second half, but Shamont Brown would notch 14 of his game-high 20 points after the break to bring the Toros close. With the visitors up 77-76 and just seconds remaining on the clock, a Carlos Rivers three-foot floater hit just off the rim, and Brown’s attempted putback followed suit, allowing CSUB to escape with the three-point win after hitting two free throws with 0.9 seconds left in the game.

The next night, the Toros dug themselves a 19-point halftime deficit against the Golden Eagles, an obstacle that proved too difficult to overcome. After CSULA pushed its lead to 22 a few minutes into the second half, Carlos Rivers brought the Toros back to within striking range at 59-44 with three-straight baskets, including a swish from behind the arc. CSUDH would cut the deficit to seven with just over two minutes left, but would get no closer despite Rivers’ game-high 22 points.

Toros Amongst the CCAA’s Best: Here’s a quick look at how the Toros stack up against the rest of the CCAA, with games played through January 7: Scoring - Mario Malave (5th, 16.1 ppg), Carlos Rivers (18th, 12.4 ppg); Shamont Brown (25th, 10.7 ppg); Steals - Mike Steed (5th, 1.7 spg), Shamont Brown (T14th, 1.4 spg), Carlos Rivers (T14th, 1.4 spg), Jonathan Toliver (18th, 1.2 spg); FG% - Mario Malave (9th, 54%), Shamont Brown (10th, 54%); Carlos Rivers (20th, 40%); Rebounds - Shamont Brown (9th, 6.7 rpg), Mario Malave (20th, 4.8 rpg); Assists - Carlos Rivers (11th, 3.3 apg), Shamont Brown (T14th, 2.8 apg); Assist/Turnover Ratio - Carlos Rivers (11th, 1.27); 3-Pt. FG Made: Carlos Rivers (T17th, 1.4 pg), Jonathan Toliver (T17th, 1.4 pg).

The Spirit of ‘76: The United States may have declared its independence in ‘76, but that number hasn’t been a welcome sight for the Toros lately. The Toros have scored 76 points in each of the last two contests, and have lost both games. Coincidentally, CSUDH tallied identical totals of 30 field goals in each contest, while both opponents have connected for identical 56.4 shooting percentages from the field (31-for-55). Additionally, both Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State L.A. have been stellar at the charity stripe, connecting for respective 83.3 and 85.7 percentages over the two Toro defeats.

What a Difference a Start Makes: Shamont Brown has come on strong as of late, earning a starting nod in the Toros past seven games. In those contests, the 6’4” junior has established himself as a legitimate scoring threat, notching double-digits in six of those contests while averaging 14.0 points. Additionally, he has pulled down an average of 7.1 boards per contest, raising his season average on the glass to 6.7 per game.

On the season, Brown has tallied highs of 20 points and 12 boards while shooting for 54% from the field.

Rebound Central: After six games of being out-rebounded by 38 boards to start the season, the Toros’ hard work is 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 four contests, collecting a total of 46 more boards than their opponents to give CSUDH a slight overall rebounding edge for the year (33.9 to 33.1).

Making His Case: After seeing action in two games off the bench to begin the 2005-06 campaign, Durwin Williams made his first four starts in Cardinal & Gold the last five games, and the Compton native has not disappointed. In those four starts, the 6’7” forward has averaged 12.3 points per game on 17-of-31 shooting from the field (55%), including two makes from behind the 3-point arc. Additionally, Williams has been solid from the line, sinking 13-of-14 from the charity stripe, and steady on the boards, tallying 6.5 rebounds per game as a starter

On the season, Williams is averaging 8.1 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.

From Downtown: Junior Carlos Rivers and freshman Jonathan Toliver have provided much of the scoring from beyond the 3-point line, having combined for 49% of the Toro makes from downtown. On the season, Rivers has drained 34% of his 3s (14-for-41) while Toliver also has connected for 14 makes on 50 attempts.

As a team, CSUDH has connected for 33% thus far, sinking 57-of-175 shots from behind the arc.

A Tale of Two Teams: Continuing the strong offensive effort that closed 2005, CSUDH has maintained its solid production on the offensive end as it hosts Cal State Stanislaus and Chico State this weekend. The Toros are shooting a solid 47% from the field, and boast seven players whose percentages from the floor are at least 47%: Trevon Bryant (57%), Mario Malave (54%), Shamont Brown (54%), Murphy Cooper (52%), Durwin Williams (50%), Eric Montgomery (50%) and Mike Steed (47%).

Defensively, however, the Toros struggled last weekend as CSUB and Cal State L.A. shot a combined 56% from the field and 50% from the 3-point line in going 0-2 to begin 2006. Additionally, the charity stripe has not been so charitable for the Toros as CSUDH drained just 64% of its shots from the foul line, while the ‘Runners and Golden Eagles combined for 84%.

A Matter of Size: In addition to having 10 new faces, this year’s Toros squad also has 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 Chico State on Saturday, January 14, 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.