Toros Lose With Game on the Line : Basketball: UC Riverside makes 27 of 33 free-throw attempts and defeats Dominguez Hills, 82-73, in overtime.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills basketball team prides itself on its defense, which ranks fourth nationally in NCAA Division II.

Saturday night in Carson, the Toros held California Collegiate Athletic Assn. opponent UC Riverside below its 89.6-point average. The problem was that the Toros may have been a bit too physical in the process. They lost, 82-73, in overtime.

Fourteen of Riverside’s 20 overtime points were the result of free throws. The Highlanders made 12 in the final one minute 47 seconds and were 27 of 33 for the game.

“We had to stop the clock,” Dominguez Hills Coach Dave Yanai said. “We had to foul. It didn’t help that they’re a good free-throw shooting team.”

The Toros (11-5, 3-3 in league play) were also hurt by poor rebounding. They were outrebounded, 50-26.

“The difference was defensive rebounding,” Yanai said. “That is the one fundamental skill that really hurt us tonight.”

Riverside, whose only conference loss was to undefeated Cal State Bakersfield, is 14-4 and 5-1.

Dominguez Hills trailed by nine points in the first half, but the Toros rallied and cut the deficit to 28-27 at halftime.

The Toros took their biggest lead, 58-55, after Ray Bennett made a 20-foot jump shot with 4:09 left in regulation.

Riverside made a field goal and five free throws to take a 62-60 lead with 1:29 remaining.

Bennett, who had a career and game-high 29 points, made a 17-foot jump shot with 23 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Guard Chris Thompson missed a 20-foot jump shot from the top of the key with three seconds left that could have won the game for Dominguez Hills.

“He was tough to stop,” Riverside Coach John Masi said of Bennett. “I asked one of my coaches, ‘Is he ever going to miss?’ He took some tough shots and we were playing him tough. He was really working hard.”

Said Yanai: “Ray was the one bright spot in tonight’s game. I’m so happy for him because he hasn’t been shooting as well lately.”

Riverside was led by center Kevin Anderson, who scored 22 points. Charles Purdom added 20.