Second-Half Drought Dooms Toros in 79-76 Loss to No. 23 Cal Poly Pomona
January 19, 2007

Complete Box Score

Carson, CA -- Visiting Cal Poly Pomona outscored the Toros 21-6 over the first 11 minutes of the second half as the 23rd-ranked Broncos held off a late Toro charge to take a 79-76 win Friday night in the Torodome. With the loss, CSUDH’s 4th in its last 5 games, the Toros fall to 6-7, 3-5 CCAA, while CPP improves to 10-3, 6-2 CCAA.

CSUDH used a Jamaal Barnes (Compton, CA/Compton JC) lay-up and old-fashioned 3-point play by Shamont Brown (Jamaica, NY/Riverside CC) to take a 5-0 lead to begin the contest, keeping the distance at five on a pair of Gabe Bernard (North Hills, CA/University of Texas at San Antonio) free throws at the 12:50 mark.

CPP, however, would outscore the Toros 8-3 over the next three minutes to knot the game at 21-21, eventually taking its first lead on a Billy Hofman 3-pointer with 6:20 left in the first half, breaking a 28-28 tie. The Toros, though, would claw back as time wound down, taking a 41-40 lead on two more Bernard freebies to close the first-half scoring.

The Broncos stormed out of the gate after the break, using a 21-6 run over the first 11 minutes to take a commanding 61-47 lead. Two back-to-back Trevon Bryant (Tifton, GA/Compton CC) baskets near the top of the key and an ensuing foul shot cut the CPP lead to 61-52, after which a successful Bernard 3-point play whittled into CPP’s lead even more.

CPP answered with its own 3-point play, courtesy of Kyle Krause, only to have Jamel Ward (Los Angeles, CA/Inglewood HS) feed a leaping Barnes with a perfect alley-oop for a monstrous dunk at the 5:29 mark, cutting the lead to 64-57 and sending the Torodome crowd into a frenzy.

After the Broncos pushed their lead back to double-digits one minute later, six-consecutive Jonathan Toliver (Inglewood, CA/Westchester HS) points, including one of his five 3-point makes on the night, followed by a Brown 3-pointer cut the lead to 77-74 with six seconds left, but CPP’s Larry Gordon drained two free throws one second later to push the lead to five, after which a Ward gimme in the paint would account for the final scoring in the Broncos’ 79-76 win.

Toliver and CPP’s Dion Cook tied for game-high scoring honors with 20 points each, while Mike Steed (Antelope, CA/Center HS) tallied 12 boards in the loss. Brown added 15 and Bernard 13 for the Toros, but CSUDH would tally 8 less trips to the foul line in the second half as CPP managed a +5 advantage at the charity stripe after intermission.

The Toros continue their tough home stand tomorrow as No. 12-ranked Cal State San Bernardino pays Carson a visit, with first tip scheduled for 7:30 pm in the Torodome.