Toros Men Fall Just Short in 70-67 Season-Opening Loss to No. 2-Ranked Montevallo
Sophomore Toliver's 12 points leads trio of Toros in double-figure scoring
November 24, 2006

Carson, CA - Cal State Dominguez Hills sophomore Jonathan Toliver (Inglewood, CA/Westchester HS) scored 12 points to pace a trio of Toros in double-figure scoring, but CSUDH's attempted comeback from a 19-point first half deficit fell just short as the Toros dropped their 2006-07 season-opener to 2nd-ranked University of Montevallo, 70-67. The game was played on day one of the two-day Seattle Pacific Las Vegas Thanksgiving Classic.

The No. 2-ranked Falcons, which made the NCAA's Elite Eight last season, showed early why they are nationally acclaimed, connecting on 7 of its first 10 shots in racing out to a 22-5 lead with just over 5 minutes elapsed. UM's lead would reach as much as 19 points on a Marcus Kennedy jumper at the 9:50 mark before the Toros slowly whittled the Falcons' lead away.

Led by two Carlos Rivers (Long Beach, CA/LA Valley College) long-range bombs and a stifling defense, CSUDH outscored UM 17-9 to get to within striking distance at 39-28 on a Shamont Brown (Jamaica, NY/Riverside CC) free throw, only to see the Falcons push the lead back to 15 on a Greg Brown layup with just under two minutes left in the half. The Toros, however, behind jumpers by Jamaal Barnes (Compton, CA/Compton JC) and Jamel Ward (Los Angeles, CA/Inglewood HS) and a layup by Toliver, would bring the lead back to 11 before two Barnes' charity shots to close the half got the Toros to within 45-36 entering intermission.

After the break, Toliver drained a three to cut the lead to just six, and a Gabe Bernard (North Hills, CA/University of Texas at San Antonio) jumper brought the Toros to within 47-43 with 15:59 left in regulation. That's the closest the Toros would get until the 6:03 mark when true freshman James Cawthorne (Orange, CA/Villa Park HS) converted a gimme to cut the lead to 63-60. The Falcons, however, would not fold under the Toros' surge as four foul shots and a Kennedy tip-in pushed the lead back to nine with 3:22 to play.

CSUDH, however, would show some life of its own as sonsecutive buckets by Brown and Rivers preceded a Toliver long-range bomb, accounting for seven-straight points to cut the lead to just 69-67 with 36 seconds left in the game. The Toros had a chance to tie the game after UM's Greg Brown turned the ball over, but Rivers missed a layup with 8 ticks left, forcing the Toros to foul with just 3 seconds remaining, where Brown made one of two to account for the game's final tally, depriving the Toros of a huge upset to begin the year.

Montevallo's Kennedy led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, while Brown chipped in 16 in the Falcons' win. Brown and Rivers each scored 11 points, with Barnes tallying game-high rebounding honors with 8.

The Toros' Las Vegas excursion doesn't get any easier as they face No. 4-ranked Seattle Pacific in the late game tomorrow afternoon, with first tip scheduled for 4 pm at the McDermott Complex on the campus of UNLV.