CARSON, Calif. — After a couple of near misses, the young Cal State Monterey Bay men's basketball team came back late then held on through a frantic final few seconds to beat Cal State Dominguez Hills 55–54 Saturday night in The Torodome.

Sophomore guard Jahvon Johnson (Clovis North HS) led the Otters with a career–high 20 points. His layup gave them their first lead in more than a half at 45–43. He then made layups on two late possessions to keep the Otters in front.
Dominguez Hills had the ball for the final possession, trailing 55–54, but couldn't get two late 3–point attempts to fall before the Otters corralled the final rebound at the buzzer to secure the win.

CSUMB played well early, building a 20–10 lead midway through the first half. But the Toros responded with a 15–4 run to take a 25–24 lead they wouldn't relinquish for the next 19 minutes and 20 seconds. That's when two Anthony Booker (Weston Ranch HS) free throws knotted the score at 43 with slightly more than six minutes to play.

Buckets by Mateo Jones (Victorville/Silverado HS), Koen Sapwell (Adelaide, South Australia) and Gregg Polosky (San Ramon Valley HS) kept the Otters in front until Johnson took over in the final two minutes.
 

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THE GAME WAS STATISTICALLY OVER WHEN… Gregg Polosky grabbed a loose ball under the Toro basket as the final buzzer sounded.

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE… The Otters trailed Dominguez Hills 43–37 with 10:21 remaining. Over that final 10:21, CSUMB held the Toros to 2–for–12 shooting (.167) from the field with four turnovers over the final 15 Toro possessions.

CAN'T KEEP A GOOD MAN DOWN… The Toros held Mateo Jones to a season–low seven points, but you can't keep a good man down. Jones came through with a career–high 12 rebounds to lead both teams.

LEADERS OF THE RAFT… POINTS: Jahvon Johnson 20; REBOUNDS: Mateo Jones 12; ASSISTS: Josh Kollman 4; BLOCKS: Anthony Booker 1; STEALS: Mateo Jones/Gregg Polosky 2.

THE LAST WORD… "I was really proud of our guys tonight. We'd didn't play great, but for the first time tonight, we showed real toughness. I thought we played our best basketball of the year to start the game, then had some breakdowns. But when our backs were against the wall, these guys stepped up." – CSUMB Head Coach Isaac Williams

THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters finally visit the friendly confines of the Kelp Bed to host Saint Martin's University Tuesday (Nov. 21). Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.