Dominguez Can’t Win on Road and Now Can’t Win at Home

The team that can’t win on the road returned home Thursday night--and lost.

Cal State Dominguez Hills not only lost to UC Riverside, it embarrassed itself in its California Collegiate Athletic Assn. home opener.

The 62-52 score doesn’t come close to explaining the frustration the Toros caused themselves. How about hitting 2 of 8 field goals and committing 8 turnovers to end the first half? When its troubles began, Dominguez Hills led 20-18. It trailed at the half, 32-22.

How about 19 turnovers, 13 in the first half? That’s almost as embarrassing as being zero for January, which the Toros (6-10 overall) are. And they’ve lost six straight, four of those in the conference, their worst start ever. This team is disintegrating.

Worse yet, Saturday night the Toros visit Cal Poly Pomona. Dominguez Hills is 1-8 on the road. The lone win came two months ago.

“We flat beat ourselves. We dug a hole,” said Toro Coach Dave Yanai. “(Saturday) it’s not going to get any easier if we play like we did tonight.”

Ironically, Dominguez Hills has won nearly 70% of its games at home over the years and was 5-1 there before Thursday night.

About the only chance Dominguez Hills had against Riverside was for junior center Anthony Blackmon to take the ball at the top of the key and fire one of his patented 15-foot jumpers, even those aren’t the shots Yanai likes to see his 6-7 center get. But Blackmon had difficulty posting. And the rest of the Toros looked lost in their offensive sets.

“As soon as they feel pressure they revert to instincts,” explained Yanai. “Those are the trials and tribulations of an inexperienced group.”

Blackmon, the team’s only starter off last year’s CCAA championship team, had 10 of the Toros’ first 18 points. But he picked up his third foul with 1:21 before the half.

He opened the second half by hitting four of the team’s first seven field goals, but with 9:37 to go he fouled out. Riverside led 53-37. Blackmon finished with 20 points.

Dominguez Hills made a run at the Highlanders, getting to within 8 points, with about 2 minutes to go, but even that resurgence lost steam in a barrage of wild shots and missed second rebounds.