Toros’ Bennett Wants to Finish His Career in Style : Colleges: The guard, who is hoping to make amends for a disappointing junior season, has regained his starting job and is leading the team in scoring.

After starting at guard and earning All-California Collegiate Athletic Assn. honors in his first two seasons at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Raymond Bennett had high expectations entering his junior season.

It wasn’t long before his hopes turned into frustration.

His problems started when he got the flu early in the season.

“(The season) started off pretty good, but I got sick and missed a few practices and a couple of games and from then on it seemed like I never got back on track,” he said. “My confidence level just went down and I didn’t really have my legs under me. So I just struggled with my shot and it really affected my play.”

Bennett was relegated to a reserve role--he started only three games--and averaged career lows of seven points and 1.2 rebounds.

“In the beginning, it was very tough for him to deal with,” said teammate Vince Washington, a longtime friend. “But as the season went along, he started accepting it and played much better.”

Fortunately for Bennett, 21, his senior season has started with promise.

The 6-foot, 165-pound Bennett has earned a starting job and leads the Toros in scoring with an 18-point average. He has helped the Toros, who play Missouri Western (7-0) tonight in the first round of a tournament at Cal State Bakersfield, to a 4-1 start.

For Bennett, the road to respectability started during summer workout sessions. Coach Dave Yanai said Bennett’s off-season program has made a difference.

“His focus, his mental approach and physical preparation have just been a lot better,” he said. “Physically, he’s just come into the season in very good shape and he’s in better shape mentally. Everything about him just seems to be in sharper form.”

Bennett said he went into the season determined to succeed in part because of the players Yanai had recruited, including forward Joe Bertrand and center Darnell Patterson from Compton College.

“With all of the new talent, we have higher goals as a team and realize that with the guys on the team we all have to do our part to be successful,” he said. “I didn’t want to be the weak link in the chain.”

He also didn’t want a repeat of his junior season.

“I’m determined to have the best season I’ve ever had here at Dominguez Hills because it’s my last one and I want to make the most of it,” Bennett said.

Yanai is most impressed with Bennett’s improved shooting. His shooting percentage slipped to a career-low of 40.8% from the field last season, but he has made 50% of his shots this season and has yet to miss a free throw in eight attempts.

“There’s a world of difference between last year and this year in terms of seeing Ray come in and create shots for himself and then finish off those opportunities,” Yanai said.

Washington said it is Bennett’s improvement in other areas, including his assist-to-turnover ratio, that has helped make him a better player.

“I knew he’d come out and shoot well and do a lot of scoring for us,” he said. “I would’ve been more surprised if he didn’t do a lot of scoring for us. But the big difference for him is that he’s much stronger and he’s making better decisions. He’s seeing the court better and he’s getting the ball to the open man.”

Washington is in as good of a position as anyone to judge Bennett’s skill as a player because the two have known each other since elementary school.

They played against each other in elementary school and youth leagues and have played on the same teams since their prep days at Carson. As seniors with the Colts in 1989, the players earned All-Pacific League honors and were named to The Times’ All-South Bay team.

“We’re kind of like brothers,” Washington said. “We grew up together, we pull for each other and we have many of the same goals for our future.”

Bennett said he was recruited by several colleges, including UC Irvine and Cal Poly Pomona, but wanted to attend Dominguez Hills after learning that Washington wanted to be a Toro.

“They seemed liked they cared about their athletes here more than just as basketball players,” he said.

Bennett wants to finish his college career on a winning team.

“We know we can beat anyone once we step on the court,” he said. “I had the same feeling back when I was a freshman, but we didn’t have the experience that we needed. Now we have the experience, the physical ability and the will to win.”

The same can be said for Bennett, who appears to be saving his best for last.