Toros End Super Basketball Season on Flat Note at Playoffs

Cal State Dominguez Hills’ most successful basketball team ever didn’t go out with a bang, but it went down fighting.

The Toros, who won a school-record 22 games, bowed out of the NCAA Division II regionals in Billings, Mont., losing to Alaska-Anchorage and dropping the consolation game to Cal State Hayward.

The Toros, who went into the tournament with four straight victories, seemed to run out of luck even before the regionals began. Sophomore forward Tony Akins, the team’s second-leading scorer, was grounded with mononucleosis and stayed in Los Angeles.

Then in the opener, leading scorer William Alexander got into foul trouble and ended up with two points. And the Toros still took Anchorage into double overtime. The Toros had a chance to win in regulation but a shot by Alexander was blocked. The Toros also had a five-point lead in the first overtime but missed two one-and-one opportunities in the final minute.

Against Hayward, the Toros were flat. Alexander closed out his career with 14 points to give him 1,766, a record in the California Collegiate Athletic Conference. He leaves with eight other conference records as well and is the first player to earn All-CCAA recognition for four years.