CSUDH Men's Basketball Weekly
December 5, 2006

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On Tap: The Toros play just one game as they host University of Hawai’i-Hilo on Thursday night, looking for their first victory of the series after dropping all four previous contests. Tip off against the Vulcans is scheduled for 7:30 pm in the Torodome.

Last Weekend’s Recap: The Toros forged their way into the win column for their first victory of the season, taking a 68-60 win over Chico State after dropping a 7-point decision to Cal State Stanislaus the night before.

In the win, senior Shamont Brown tallied a team-high 17 points as the Toros sank six of their final eight in free throws down the stretch, holding Chico State to 36.2% shooting from the field. Gabe Bernard was the story of the first half as the senior scored all 12 of his points in the first 20-minute session, helping the Toros to a 37-31 lead heading into the locker room.

CSUDH continued its hot shooting after the break as the lead grew to 43-33 on a Jonathan Toliver 3-pointer at 17:47, eventually pushing the advantage to 51-38 on a Carlos Rivers jumper nearly eight minutes later as CSUDH held on to the 8-point win. Rivers chipped in 13 points and a team-high five assists, while Toliver contributed 10 points and Jamaal Barnes a team-high nine boards, including several spectacular efforts. 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 previous night against Cal State Stanislaus, Rivers led three Toros in double-figure scoring with 15 points, but the Warriors sank 12-of-31 from 3-point land compared to 2-for-11 for CSUDH as CSUS took an 82-75 win on “Pack the Gym Night.” CSUDH started strong, taking a 39-36 lead into the locker room, but the Warriors found their stroke after the break, withstanding a furious Toro rally late in the game to take the 7-point win. Brown and Barnes chipped in 12 points apiece in the loss, while Toliver notched a game-high seven assists against no turnovers.

Around the CCAA Conference: Here’s a look at the rest of the conference schedule for this week: Tuesday - University of San Diego @ Cal State Bakersfield; Thursday - San Francisco State @ Walla Walla College; Friday - Cal State Monterey Bay vs. Chaminade, San Francisco State @ Whitman College, Cal Baptist @ Cal State Stanislaus; Saturday - Saint Martin’s @ Sonoma State, Cal State Monterey Bay vs. Saint Martin’s, Cal State Bakersfield @ St. Mary’s College, Chaminade @ Sonoma State; Sunday - Hawai’i Pacific @ UC San Diego.

Toros Amongst the CCAA’s Best...: Here’s how the Toros compare with the CCAA’s with games played through December 2:

• Blocks - Trevon Bryant (1st, 1.5 bpg), Gabe Bernard (T5th, 1.0 bpg), Shamont Brown (T9th, 0.8 bpg), Demetrius Love (T9th, 0.8 bpg); Jonathan Toliver (T15th, 0.5 bpg);
• Assist/Turnover Ratio - Jonathan Toliver (2nd, 3.8), Carlos Rivers (13th, 1.25), Shamont Brown (17th, 1.00);
• Assists - Jonathan Toliver (3rd, 4.8 apg), Carlos Rivers (8th, 3.8 apg), Shamont Brown (T17th, 3.0 apg);
• 3-Pt. FG Made - Jonathan Toliver (4th, 2.25), Carlos Rivers (T6th, 2.0);
• FG% - Shamont Brown (5th, 56%), Carlos Rivers (14th, 47%);
• 3-Pt. FG% - Carlos Rivers (6th, 47%), Jonathan Toliver (7th, 43%);
• Rebounds - Jamaal Barnes (7th, 6.8 rpg), Shamont Brown (13th, 5.8 rpg);
• Scoring - Carlos Rivers (13th, 12.5 ppg), Shamont Brown (T15th, 12.0 ppg);
• Steals - Gabe Bernard (T16th, 1.25 spg);
• FT% - Shamont Brown (17th, 63%), Jamaal Barnes (18th, 55%).

...And as a Team:

• Blocked Shots - 1st (5.25 bpg)
• Assist/Turnover Ratio - 1st (1.21)
• Rebounding Offense - 3rd (37.0 orpg)
• Assists - 3rd (17.3 apg)
• FG% Defense - 3rd (45%)
• Turnover Margin - 4th (+1.3)
• Rebounding Margin - 6th (+1.0).
• FG% - 7th (44%)
• FT% - 11th (58%)
• Steals - 8th (6.5 spg)
• Scoring Offense - 8th (68.8 ppg)
• Scoring Defense - T8th (74.0 papg)
• Rebounding Defense - 9th (36.0 drpg)
• 3-Pt. FG% - 9th, (33%)
• Scoring Margin - 9th, (-5.2 ppg)
• 3-Pt. FG% Defense - 10th (39%).

Give That Man an Assist: Aside from the sharp-shooting that’s expected after scoring in double-figures in three of his first four games, the ball distribution by Jonathan Toliver stood out as an added benefit after Friday night’s game against Cal State Stanislaus.

Experiencing a sub-par shooting night, Toliver dished seven assists against zero turnovers, giving the super sophomore 16 assists and just two turnovers heading into last Saturday’s win against Chico State. In fact, Toliver’s ball-distributing skills have been so evident that the Inglewood native moved into 2nd in the CCAA in that category this week.

How High Can He Jump?: Junior Jamaal Barnes is quickly making believers of the hype, with emphasis on the “high.” In the win against Chico State last Saturday, Barnes pulled down a team-high 9 boards, including several efforts which saw the transfer sky well above the players on the floor, much to the amazement of everyone in attendance.

Additionally, the Compton native exhibited his strength under the basket by pulling down rebounds single-handedly, all while boxing out both taller and longer players.

TLC: Despite their 1-3 start, the Toros have done a solid job in taking care of the ball, boasting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.2, the best in the CCAA Conference. After 16 assists and 16 turnovers in the season-opener, CSUDH has 12 more assists than turnovers in their past 3 games, and have seen their opponents’ point totals dwindle from 84 to 82 to 60, no small coincidence.

Un-charitable: An alarming statistic in the early going has been the (not-so) free throw line. The Toros are draining just 58% of their foul shots on the young season compared to 76% for their opponents. Fortunately, CSUDH has gotten to the line 24 more times than their opponents, a great example of their aggressive play, but have gained only a 5 point advantage from the charity stripe.

The Bryant Watch: After destroying the CSUDH single-single mark with 52 blocked shots last season and needing just 44 to establish himself as the Toros’ all-time career blocked shot leader, senior Trevon Bryant collected six blocks in his first four games, bringing him to within 38 for the record. After tallying three blocks in his first three games, the 6’9” “Last Line” collected three blocks against Chico State last Saturday to jump into the CCAA’s lead.

Last season, Bryant tallied his 38th block on February 24, against Cal State San Bernardino, surpassing the previous mark of 37 blocks set by former Toro great Anthony Blackman during the 1988-99 campaign.

What the Coaches Say: In a preseason poll conducted by the CCAA coaches, Cal State Dominguez Hills was predicted to finish 7th in the highly-competitive conference. CCAA-newcomer Humboldt State, which was tabbed by Street & Smith as No. 6 in its preseason poll but fell in its first two CCAA contests, was given 9 first-place votes to top the conference list, and was followed by Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Bakersfield and Sonoma State, which received 1 first-place nod apiece.

Cal State San Bernardino and UC San Diego preceded the Toros in 5th and 6th, respectively, while Cal State Stanislaus, Chico State, Cal State L.A., San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay rounded out the 12 CCAA schools.

The Time is Now: From the 2006-07 season preview: The 2006-07 Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s basketball team is ready. Ready with eight returning players on a team that improved by two wins in conference and four overall after welcoming 10 newcomers and a coach in just his second year with last season’s squad. Ready after winning its last two regular season games of the year. And ready after five of its losses on the year were by three points or less.

In 2005-06, juniors Carlos Rivers and Shamont Brown, who was named to the 2nd-team All-CCAA, led the Toro offense, averaging 13.4 and 12.0 points per game, respectively, while fellow junior transfer Trevon Bryant anchored a revamped defense that saw him establish the CSUDH record for blocks in a single-season with 52, with his 2.36 blocks per game average placing him 15th in the NCAA, giving head coach Damaine Powell (right) ample reason to smile as the season kicks off this week at the SPU Thanksgiving Classic.

“For the first time since I’ve been here, I know my personnel,” says Powell confidently. “We kind of got on a roll toward the end but by that time, the season was over. But we felt good about ourselves. Now, we’ve got some talent and experience, and we’re playing to that. We have the potential to have a breakthrough year.”