Dominguez Hills, Bakersfield to Meet in CCAA Tournament

The Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s basketball team will make its first appearance since the 1988-89 season in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. postseason tournament when it plays Cal State Bakersfield in a first-round game at 5:45 p.m. today at Riverside City College.

Dominguez Hills (16-11) finished third in the conference and Bakersfield (21-6) was second. Top-seeded UC Riverside (22-4) will play Cal Poly Pomona (15-12) in the tournament’s other game. The winners meet for the tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Division II playoffs begin next week.

Bakersfield beat Dominguez Hills, 50-37, in January--the lowest point total ever for the Toros. Dominguez Hills beat Bakersfield, 64-60, in February.

Bakersfield has a history of success in postseason play. The Roadrunners, who have competed in the Division II playoffs the past four seasons, reached the semifinals the past two seasons and were runners-up in 1990.

Bakersfield has been led by senior forward Beau Redstone and guards Kenny Warren, a sophomore, and Fred Eckles, a senior. Redstone averages a team-leading 13.8 points and 10.1 rebounds, Eckles averages 12.8 points and a team-high of 4.3 assists, and Warren averages 10.7 points.

Senior forward Michael Moore continues to lead the Toros with averages of 11.4 points and 4.6 rebounds. Dominguez Hills’ best rebounder is sophomore forward John Brown, who averages 5.3.

In the Lions’ 71-59 loss to Pepperdine on Wednesday night in Malibu, Loyola Marymount’s Joelle Longobardi became the fourth women’s basketball player in school history to score 1,000 or more points.

Longobardi had 15 points in the loss and finished with 1,012 in her career. Lynn Flanagan is Loyola’s career-scoring leader with 1,436 points.

The Lions (6-21) finished the season winless in 14 West Coast Conference games and have lost 15 consecutive league games dating from last season.