BOX SCORE

SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team forced a school record 28 turnovers, but frigid shooting doomed the Otters in a 63–54 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills Monday night in The Kelp Bed.

The CSUMB defense broke the school record of 27 forced turnovers set at Cal State L.A. on Feb. 23, 2008. But the Otters shot just 30.4 percent (7-of-23) in the second half as Dominguez Hills erased a 32–29 Otter lead at the half en route to the win.

Senior guard Brandon Ward (Riverside/Woodcrest HS) led CSUMB with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists. His four assists give him 150 for his career and move him past Stephen Becker for the No. 6 spot on the Otter all–time list.

Take away Ward's 6-for-13 effort and freshman guard Jalen Headspeth's (Oakland HS) 4-for-8 night, however, and the rest of the Otter roster combined to shoot 11-for-36 (30.5 percent).

Dominguez Hills, meanwhile, overcame shaky handles thanks in large part to a 39–24 edge on the glass. The Toros' 32 defensive rebounds limited the Otters to just five second chance points, an absolutely fatal statistic on an off–shooting night.

The Otters threatened to walk away with this game late in the first half, using a 6–0 spurt to open their biggest lead at 25–17 inside of five minutes to play. They nearly increased their advantage to 11 points twice, but a pair James Thomas (Castro Valley/Bishop O'Dowd) three–point attempts rimmed in–and–out and the Toros cut their deficit to three by intermission.

The second half opened with CSUMB managing just a Geoff McIntosh (Gig Harbor, Wash./N. Oklahoma JC) jumper in the first six minutes as the Toros built a nine–point lead. The Toro advantage eventually reached 11 points at 49–38 before an 11–1 run got the Otters back to within 50–49 inside of seven minutes to play.

The rally ended there, however, and the Toros made 5-of-6 from the line late to put the game away.

Everett Brown led a balanced Toro offense with 12 points. Van Girard just missed a double–double, grabbing a game–high 11 rebounds to go with nine points for CSUDH (4–3, 3–2 CCAA)

CSUMB (2–5, 1–3) will join the rest of the CCAA in observing time off for winter break. The Otters return to action Dec. 30 with a trip to Hayward for a meeting with Cal State East Bay. Tipoff will be at 6 p.m.



CAL ST. DOMINGUEZ HILLS (63)
Everett Brown 4-6 3-4 12; Cornell Jenkins 4-8 0-0 11; Wayne Andrews 4-7 1-2 10; Myron Green 2-6 5-6 9; Van Girard 4-4 1-2 9; CJ Carter 0-3 4-6 4; Matt Cain 1-1 0-0 3; Sheldon Allen 1-4 0-0 2; Robert Willhite 0-1 2-2 2; George McGrew 0-1 1-3 1; Ryan Jefferson 0-0 0-0 0; Brian Gee 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-42 17-25 63.

CAL ST. MONTEREY BAY (54)
Brandon Ward 6-13 6-6 21; Jalen Headspeth 4-8 0-1 8; Derrick Anderson 2-12 3-3 7; Kevin Loustale 3-3 0-0 6; Courtland Wharton 2-4 0-0 4; James Albert 2-2 0-0 4; James Thomas 1-7 0-0 2; Geoff McIntosh 1-8 0-0 2; Jaron Devine 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 9-10 54.

Halftime: CSUMB 32–29. 3-point goals--CSUDH 6-14 (Jenkins 3-5; Cain 1-1; Brown 1-3; Andrews 1-2; Willhite 0-1; Gee 0-1; Green 0-1), CSUMB 3-16 (Ward 3-7; Headspeth 0-1; Thomas 0-4; McIntosh 0-4). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--CSUDH 39 (Girard 11), CSUMB 24 (Ward 6). Assists--CSUDH 8 (Willhite 3), CSUMB 13 (Ward 4). Total fouls--CSUDH 20, CSUMB 17. Technical fouls--None. A-223