First Night A Success

Friday, November 10

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

1-0

Cal State Dominguez Hills

0-1

Cal State Dominguez Hills

California Baptist

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

11/10/2017 10:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sammi Wellman, Director of Sports Information

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — It was a night filled with excitement as No. 14-ranked California Baptist University opened the brand new Events Center with an 83-79 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday night.

"First off, we want to thank the Lancer faithful; this was a big night for everybody, for our school, for Riverside, for the Inland Empire and for our guys," said Coach Rick Croy. "CSUDH came in and competed really well. Hats off to them, but our guys fought hard. I can imagine there wasn't a better college basketball environment anywhere else in the country than at our place tonight."

"It was a crazy atmosphere, we love our fans," said Jason Todd. "Just so proud to be a part of something like that and open up a building like this for these people."

The Lancers start the year off with a 1-0 mark, while the Toros sit 0-1 after the first day of the Lancers Tip-Off Challenge.

Big man Kalidou Diouf led four Lancers in double figures with 24 points (10-for-17), while also being selfless with four assists on the night. De'jon Davis also had a successful night in the post, scoring a career-high 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Todd finished with 12 points, while Jordan Heading knocked down 11 points (5-for-12).

"I just tried to take good shots, stay in my lane and do the things I'm good at," said Diouf. "It worked out tonight."

Off the glass, CBU dominated with a 42-to-27 margin. Diouf and Bul Kuol each grabbed eight boards, which is a career-high for Kuol, while Davis and Gabe Taylor each contributed six rebounds.

Diouf scored the first points in the Events Center for CBU less than a minute into the game. The Toros evened things up at 4-4, but the Lancers went on an 8-2 spurt off a rare triple from Diouf, a trey from Todd and a layup from Heading, 12-6.

CSUDH grabbed some momentum with 15 minutes left in the half, holding as much as a seven-point lead, 23-16, but the Lancers were never out of it.

"CSUDH came out of the gates ready to go," said Croy. "We weren't ready for that punch. They hit us with several punches in the first half, but luckily our guys kept their heads up and kept scrapping."

CBU responded with six-straight points off a layup and two shots from the charity stripe from Davis and a dunk from Kuol, 23-22.

The Lancers took the lead back, 30-26, off a deep three-pointer from Marquise Mosley, but it was the Toros who went into halftime with the upper hand, 48-44.

Coming out of the break, it was all Lancers, as Todd knocked down two free throws to spark a 7-1 spurt. Taylor stole the ball away in the next possession, leading to a free throw for Diouf, before Diouf posted up under the basket and Mosley capped the run by finding a lane and driving to the basket, 51-49.

"We relied on our leadership," said Todd of how the Lancers responded in the second half. "We relied on Kali, Danny King and myself just to get positive talk. We got better in the second half."

The Lancers tried to make their move with 10 minutes to go, but the Toros wouldn't quite let the home team break free.

With just over six minutes on the clock and a four-point lead, 66-62, CBU got a little separation. Heading grabbed an and-one for an old-fashioned three, before Davis smashed in a dunk to erupt the crowd in cheers and give the Lancers their biggest lead of the night, 71-62.

Once again, however, CSUDH chipped away and made things interesting with 1:21 to play, knocking down a three to pull within two points, 80-78.

"We kept our poise," said Diouf. "We worked on getting good shots and played tough defense. We didn't lose our minds."

Taylor and Mosley secured the 83-78 win for the Lancers, however, with a respective jump shot and free throw.

"It was beautiful playing in front of that many people," said Diouf of the 4,982 filled Events Center. "It was great to see all the students come out to support us and show us so much love. I'm very grateful for tonight."

CBU looks to carry over the excitement and build off the win in Saturday's 2:00 p.m. tip off against Cal State L.A.

"We're proud of our win and we're looking forward to tomorrow," said Todd. "We're looking forward to keep putting on a show for the Lancer faithful."

"It was a tough win," said Croy. "We scrapped it out, but you have to be able to enjoy it and not think about all the things you need to get better at right away. We'll enjoy the win, get to the film room and get to work, figure out what we have to do better. We have a long way to go, but we have a group who's ready to do the hard work."