This Week in Toros Men's Basketball
February 14, 2006

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This Week in Toros Basketball: The Toros continue conference play on the road this weekend, traveling to Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus for key CCAA match-ups. Earlier this year, CSUDH defeated CSUS at the Torodome before falling to Chico State the next night.

Toros Drop Two on the Road: The Toros continued their road woes last week, falling 64-62 at Cal State L.A. on Friday night, and 68-57 at Cal State Bakersfield just 24 hours later.

In the Eagles Nest, Shamont Brown tallied game-high scoring honors with 23 points, but the Toros failed to hold its slim two-point lead entering intermission as CSULA swept the season series after taking an 87-76 decision in Carson earlier this year. After the hosts took a two point lead with seconds remaining in regulation, a Carlos Rivers lay-up failed to connect, and a Durwin Williams attempted put back went for naught as CSULA survived to pull out the win. Although CSUDH shot 49% compared to CSULA’s 41%, the Toros committed 18 turnovers in the loss.

The next night at Bakersfield, the Toros took a slim one-point lead entering the half, but as was the case a night before, failed to hold onto the lead, dropping the 9-point decision. Rivers came off the bench for a team-high 12 points while Trevon Bryant tallied 10 points in the loss. For the game, the Toros shot just 38.5% from the field, compared to 41.7% for the hosts as CSUB swept the season series after taking a 79-76 win in Carson on January 6.

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 February 11:

• Blocks - Trevon Bryant (1st, 1.88 bpg), Durwin Williams (17th, 0.53 bpg);
• FG% - Shamont Brown (4th, 54%), Mario Malave (10th, 50%); Carlos Rivers (15th, 46%);
• Steals - Mike Steed (6th, 1.5 spg), Carlos Rivers (9th, 1.5 spg), Shamont Brown (19th, 1.2 spg);
• Scoring - Mario Malave (6th, 15.9 ppg), Carlos Rivers (10th, 13.9 ppg); Shamont Brown (T21st, 11.0 ppg);
• Assists - Carlos Rivers (9th, 3.3 apg), Shamont Brown (T14th, 3.0 apg); Mike Steed (17th, 2.7 apg);
• Rebounds - Shamont Brown (10th, 5.8 rpg), Durwin Williams (12th, 5.6 rpg), Mario Malave (19th, 4.8 rpg);
• Assist/Turnover Ratio - Carlos Rivers (12th, 1.29); Shamont Brown (15th, 1.11);
• 3-Pt. FG Made: Carlos Rivers (T16th, 1.5 pg), Jonathan Toliver (T19th, 1.4 pg).

Approaching the Record Books: Junior transfer Trevon Bryant is inching his way towards the CSUDH record books for blocks in a single season. With six games left in the regular season, Bryant is just eight rejections shy of becoming the greatest defensive presence in Toro history. Currently, Bryant has 30 blocks, which includes 15 swats in his last seven games, and needs to average just over 1.3 blocks per contest to establish himself as the Toros’ best. Additionally, Bryant leads the league in blocks with 1.88 denials a game.

Former Toro great Anthony Blackmon currently holds the record of 37 blocks in a single season, which he established in the 1988-89 campaign.

Hard to Guard: Junior point guard Carlos Rivers has been a man on a mission of late. After scoring a total of 15 points in his first two contests in Cardinal & Gold, Rivers has led the Toros’ offense in seven of the past 11 games, notching 22, 29, 21, 17, 22, 20 and 12 points, respectively. In those contests, Rivers is averaging 20.4 points per game, shooting at a 55.1% clip from the field and 51.7% from behind the 3-point line.

In addition, he has a +8 differential in assists/turnovers, and has misfired on just two of his 32 free throw attempts (93.8%).

What a Difference a Start Makes: Shamont Brown has come on strong as of late, earning a starting nod in the Toros past 18 games. In those contests, the 6’4” junior has established himself as a legitimate scoring threat, notching double-digits in 11 of those contests while averaging 12.4 points during that stretch. Additionally, he has pulled down an average of 5.8 boards per contest, raising his season average on the glass to 5.8 per game.

On the season, Brown has tallied highs of 23 points and 12 boards, with the 23-point performance occurring just last Friday at Cal State L.A., 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 paying 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 15 contests, collecting a total of 56 more boards than their opponents to give CSUDH an overall rebounding edge for the year (32.8 to 31.7). In fact, the Toros have enjoyed three games in which they have out-rebounded opponents by at least 10 boards, including +11 against Cal Poly Pomona, +13 against Chaminade and +33 against Dominican University.

Making His Case: After seeing action in two games off the bench to begin the 2005-06 campaign, Durwin Williams has started 12 of the Toros’ 20 contests, including the last eight games, and the Compton native has not disappointed. In those 12 starts, the 6’7” forward has averaged 10.9 points per game on 48-of-89 shooting from the field (54%), including seven makes from behind the 3-point arc. Additionally, Williams has been solid from the line, sinking 28-of-37 from the charity stripe, and steady on the boards, tallying 6.2 rebounds per game as a starter, tops on the team in those 12 contests.

On the season, Williams is averaging 9.4 points and 5.6 boards per game, including a season-high 14 rebounds in the Toros’ 77-68 win over Cal State Monterey Bay on January 27.

A Work in Progress: Continuing the strong offensive effort that began 2006, CSUDH has maintained its solid production on the offensive end as it has won four of its last seven contests, and travels to Chico State and Cal State Stanislaus this week. The Toros are shooting nearly 50% from the field (47.8%), and boast six players whose percentages from the floor are at least 45%: Trevon Bryant (56%), Durwin Williams (54%), Shamont Brown (54%), Mario Malave (50%), Mike Steed (50%) and Carlos Rivers (46%).

Also, the Toros have narrowed the gap between CSUDH’s and their opponents’ shooting percentages, to the point of mirroring the figures (CSUDH - 47.8%, Opponents - 47.9%). Behind the 3-point line, however, CSUDH still is trailing its counterparts, connecting on just 37.5% of their attempts compared to 40.6% for Toro opponents.

More Progress: Although the Toros dropped both CCAA contests at Cal State L.A. and Cal State Bakersfield last weekend, the Toros currently have five conference wins in the 2005-06 campaign with six games left, one season removed from garnering just six total conference wins in all of 2004-2005.

Thank You. No, Thank You: If there’s one glaring stat in the Toros 7-5 home record compared to their 1-6 road record, it’s the different in assists and turnovers. At home, CSUDH is enjoying a +44 in that category (204 assists / 160 turnovers) while suffering a -30 differential on the road (76 assists / 106 turnovers).

Toros Continue 2005-06 Basketball Web Cast Schedule With Waldcast.net: CSUDH and Waldcast.net continue their broadcast schedule for the Toros 06 men’s basketball season, all of which can be heard here on the Cal State Dominguez Hills Athletics Website.

The next web cast is scheduled for both games this weekend as Toros travel to Chico State & Cal State Stanislaus.

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.