2 Losses Drop Toros From Playoff Chase

The “hunt” for Cal State Dominguez Hills ended this weekend on its annual northern safari.

The Toros appear out of the running for a post-season berth in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Tournament following back-to-back losses to Cal State Bakersfield on Friday and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday.

Just two weeks ago, Coach Dave Yanai stood firm on his prediction that Dominguez Hills “would be in the hunt” for one of the four playoff spots, and the Toros looked like a sure thing, too. The team had won four of five games and had climbed into a third-place tie.

But a 76-61 loss at Bakersfield and a 78-76 loss at San Luis Obispo, coupled with Cal State Los Angeles’ upset victory Friday at second-place UC Riverside and overtime win Saturday against Cal Poly Pomona, may have ended the Toros’ chances.

Dominguez Hills (5-7, 9-16 overall) has lost three of its last four games and no longer controls its own destiny for any shot at a playoff berth.

San Luis Obispo, which began Saturday night’s game in a three-way tie for third place in the CCAA, has all but replaced Dominguez Hills in the hunt.

The toros must win games with Cal Poly Pomona and UC Riverside next week and hope that L.A. loses to San Luis Obispo and Bakersfield and that Cal State Northridge drops its final two games.

The possibilities seem endless in the CCAA race each season, but one thing was sure before Saturday night’s game with San Luis Obispo. Following the loss to Bakersfield, the Toros desperately needed a victory.

And for the first 20 minutes, as has been the case many times this year, Dominguez Hills dominated the tempo.

The Toros led at halftime for the 17th time this year against San Luis Obispo because it shot a season-high 66.7% (16 of 24) from the floor. Still the Toros, who have made only 44% of their field goal attempts this year, had to come from behind twice in the first 20 minutes.

San Luis Obispo put the game away in the second half, much as Bakersfield did, with stiffer defense.

Dominguez Hills made just four field goals in a 12-minute stretch of the second half here, and fell behind by as many as 10 points.

Bakersfield held Dominguez Hills to just 23 second-half points.

In the women’s game, the Lady Toros (11-13, 3-7) were eliminated from contention for a CCAA post-season spot with a 73-57 loss at San Luis Obispo. The score was tied at 48 with 12 and a half minutes to go.