Defense Shines as Toros Men Win First of Season in 68-60 Victory Over Chico State
Brown’s 17 points paces quartet of Toros in double-figure scoring
December 2, 2006

Complete Box Score

Carson, CA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills senior Shamont Brown (Jamaica, NY/Riverside CC) tallied a team-high 17 points as the Toros sank six of their final eight in free throws down the stretch and held visiting Chico State to 36.2% shooting from the field in picking up its first victory of the 2006-07 campaign with a solid 68-60 win over the Wildcats Saturday night in the Torodome.

The Toros set the tone for the evening on the game’s first possession, feeding Trevon Bryant (Tifton, GA/Compton CC) in the post, who converted a lay-up for the first two of five-consecutive points CSUDH would score to open the game. CSUC would forge its way back and take the lead at 9-8 on a Michael Stockhammer jumper, only to see CSUDH outscore the Wildcats 13-6 over the next five minutes. After consecutive jumpers by CSUC’s Jon Baird and Andy Bocian, the Toros pushed their lead back to five on a Gabe Bernard (North Hills, CA/University of Texas at San Antonio) trey at 5:11, three of his 12 points in the opening frame, eventually taking a 37-31 lead into the locker room.

CSUDH continued its hot shooting after the break as the lead grew to 43-33 on a Jonathan Toliver (Inglewood, CA/Westchester HS) 3-pointer at 17:47, eventually pushing the advantage to 51-38 on a Carlos Rivers (Long Beach, CA/LA Valley College) jumper nearly eight minutes later. After a Wildcat time out, however, a Brian Erickson three led a string of seven-consecutive points CSUC scored to bring the lead to single digits at 51-45. The two teams would split the next 18 points until two Brown free throws gave CSUDH a 62-54 lead with 1:35 left in regulation.

After a Justin Argenal cut three points off the Toros’ lead with the first of his two 3-pointers on the night, two more clutch free throws by Brown pushed the lead to seven with just under a minute to go, and not even another Argenal long-range bomb 20 seconds later would be enough to salvage a CSUC comeback.

Three Wildcat fouls in the final 36 seconds resulted in the final three Toro points as CSUDH took the eight-point win.

Rivers chipped in 13 points and a team-high five assists, while Toliver contributed 10 points and Jamaal Barnes (Compton, CA/Compton JC) a team-high nine boards, including several spectacular rebounds. Chico State’s Bocian led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-22 shooting, but the Wildcats would fail to boast any other double-digit scorer in the loss. Bocian also pulled down 10 boards, sharing game-high honors with Stockhammer.

As a team, CSUDH was out-rebounded by two, but tallied 28 defensive boards in its total of 36, often limiting Chico to one-and-out on their offensive end. The Wildcats also made just 23.3% of their long-range attempts, while Bryant tallied three of the team’s six blocks in CSUDH’s win.

The Toros continue their homestand on Thursday as the University of Hawai’i Hilo pays the mainland a visit, with first tip scheduled for 7:30 pm in the Torodome.