Stanislaus men hold on to share of CCAA lead with win over Dominguez Hills

So what’s the difference between Friday night’s victory by the Cal State Stanislaus men’s basketball team over Dominguez Hills and undergoing a root canal?

The dentist gives you Novocaine.

But there also is a similarity. Just like the patient, the Warriors enjoyed an incredible amount of relief when the 53-48 decision was over – a decision that kept them tied for first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

“There really wasn’t a flow, but some nights it’s just like that for our team,” said freshman guard Christian Bayne, who scored 13 points off the bench for Stanislaus. “We pride ourselves on defense, and then the offense will come. Tonight, we got a lot of stops and then got it done down the stretch. We’re grinders.”

As in, grinding teeth to win games?

No matter the style, or lack thereof, Stanislaus improved to 13-5 overall and 10-3 in the CCAA to remain tied with Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona for first place heading into tonight’s home game against Cal State Los Angeles.

“Just win ugly, but we’ll take it,” Stanislaus coach Larry Reynolds said. “Anytime you can win a home game in this conference, it brings you that much closer to where you need to be.”

Here are some numbers to back the claims that this wasn’t the most glamorous of victories.

Start with Dominguez Hills entering Fitzpatrick Arena in last place with exactly one conference victory. But Stanislaus shot 36 percent from the floor, was only 14 of 24 from the line and was ourebounded 43-33.

So how did the Warriors win this one? A clue: It’s been a common thread to the last two seasons.

“We didn’t play bad defense,” Reynolds said. “You can motivate a defense to play well every night, but that’s kinda hard to do with an offense. You should always be able to rely on our defense if you’re playing hard and playing together.”

Despite the final five-point margin, it never felt as if Stanislaus was in any danger of losing. The final lead held by Dominguez was at 30-28 with 14:43 remaining, and it wasn’t as if the Toros were finding any offensive success of their own.

Dominguez (5-14, 1-12) shot only 30.4 percent from the floor, including 4 for 23 from three-point range. As soon as that slim lead disappeared, when Bayne started and finished a 7-0 run with a three-pointer and a short jumper, Stanislaus had a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Yes, it would have been nice had the Warriors gone on to build the kind of lead that would have allowed the starters to get some rest heading into tonight’s game, but that’s the game Stanislaus seems to play.

“Every game in the CCAA seems to be a close one,” Bayne said. “I don’t know this league from last year, but this year every game seems to come down to free throws and big stops at the end.”

The Warriors got those stops, holding the Toros to two field goals in the final 3:20, then making 7 of 8 free throws in the last 74 seconds to seal the win.

Shey Mataele hit five of those free throws to lead Stanislaus with 14 points, while Rob Walters, who twice came off the court after suffering cuts, finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Justin Sadler had 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead Dominguez Hills.

WOMEN

Dominguez Hills 65, Stanislaus 52 – After hanging within one point of the league’s second-place team through one half, the Warriors – playing without two starters – appeared to wear down in the final 20 minutes.

Briana Cotton (ankle) and Camille Roberts (concussion) have accounted for 27 percent of Stanislaus’ points this season, and neither was available.

“That’s not an excuse,” coach Wayman Strickland said. “We need more production from different people. We rebounded well, but we lapsed mentally on where we needed to be defensively.”

The Toros (16-5, 11-2 CCAA) were happy to fire-up three-pointers against the Warriors’ zone defense and pulled away despite connecting on only 9 of 31 tries from long range.

Stanislaus (5-12, 3-10) received strong games from two players seeing rare extended minutes. Freshman Aleseana Whitney led the Warriors with 12 points, while sophomore Erika Larsen grabbed 11 rebounds to go with six points in her second start.

All six of Larsen’s points came in the first half, allowing Stanislaus to pull out to a 27-21 lead with 3:22 left before halftime. The Toros finished on a 10-3 run, then pulled away in the second half as point guard Breanne Garcia rolled to 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.

“We gave Garcia open looks, and that’s the opposite of what we talked about in the scouting report,” Strickland said. “We need to sustain things mentally, and that will be a big step for us.”

This story was originally published January 30, 2015 at 10:08 PM with the headline "Stanislaus men hold on to share of CCAA lead with win over Dominguez Hills."