Dominguez Hills Is Not Up to Division I Standards, 91-63

Cal State Dominguez Hills came to town with an unbeaten record and high hopes as it tested Division I waters for the first time in two seasons.

Forty-eight hours later, they headed for home with two blemishes--a 68-60 overtime loss at Point Loma Nazarene on Friday and a 91-63 loss to Division I University of San Diego on Saturday.

The loss to Point Loma, a National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics school, was unexpected--the Toros were four-of-14 (29%) from the foul line, the worst in school history, and made a season-high 21 turnovers. But Saturday’s loss was probably unpreventable.

San Diego, a veteran West Coast Athletic Conference team, was bigger at every position, outshot the Toros from three-point range, had a 43-22 rebounding edge and made 18 more free throws than the Dominguez Hills (4-2).

Toro Coach Dave Yanai viewed Saturday’s game as a good test.

“It’s a great opportunity regardless of the score . . . to execute the skills of the game against a good Division I team,” he said. “I’m grateful (USD Coach Hank Egan) gave us a game . . . we could look forward to, because it’s hard to get Division I coaches to schedule you these days.”

Corwyn Lewis, Joe Bertrand and Darnell Patterson scored 10 points each for Dominguez Hills. USD’s Brooks Barnhard, a 6-foot-9 forward, led all scorers with 23 points, followed by swing man Joe Temple with 16.

Toro scoring leader Chris Thompson, who is averaging 18.5 points, scored only five on two-of-12 shooting, all in the second half.

“At the half we told ‘em not to be so anxious on offense, especially against a good Division I team,” Yanai said. “The second half we played a little more freely and got a chance to execute our offense against a very good defense.”

The Toros were in trouble from the start, when USD took a 17-4 lead on the strength of five three-point baskets. The lead grew to 31-16 when Barnhard made his fifth three-pointer of the half. At that point, eight of USD’s nine field goals were from three-point range.

San Diego took a 46-24 lead at halftime, matching its biggest lead of the half.