Toros Stagger in Second Half but Win Conference Opener : College basketball: Dominguez Hills squanders halftime lead but rallies down the stretch to beat San Bernardino, 66-57.

Leading by 14 points at halftime, Cal State Dominguez Hills appeared on its way to an easy victory in its California Collegiate Athletic Assn. men’s basketball opener against Cal State San Bernardino.

But Dominguez Hills struggled in the second half and held off a Coyote rally for a 66-57 victory Thursday night at the Toro gym.

“I thought we had it comfortably in hand and in the second half we let them get back in it,” Dominguez Hills Coach Dave Yanai said. “We just played very lethargic at the start of the second half.”

Dominguez Hills (10-3) benefited from San Bernardino’s poor shooting to assume a 35-21 halftime lead. The Coyotes (7-7) made only 19.6% of their shots on six of 31 attempts.

Behind guards Chris Thompson and Carlos Paul, Dominguez Hills opened up a 12-2 lead in the first six minutes and increased it to 16 points late in the half.

But in the second half San Bernardino used the outside shooting of guards Eric Carpenter--a former Harbor College and Serra High standout--and Wayne Williams to rally.

It was Carpenter’s fourth three-point basket of the second half that gave San Bernardino a 51-50 lead with 6 minutes 19 seconds remaining.

“We pretty much just took a gut check after the first half,” San Bernardino Coach Reggie Morris said. “We just came out and played as aggressive as they did and kind of neutralized them.”

But the Toros responded with a 12-2 run to put the game away. Dominguez Hills went ahead for good, 55-53, on a basket by forward Joe Bertrand with 3:25 to play.

Despite his team’s sluggish second half, Yanai was happy with the win.

“No matter what you do in the preseason, you can throw away the records when you start conference play,” Yanai said. “So it’s very nice to get off to a good start. It’s so important in this conference to win your home games.”

The Toros were led on offense by Thompson with 18 points and Paul with 17. Bertrand also sparked Dominguez Hills with a career-high 17 rebounds--the sixth consecutive game in which he has rebounded in double figures.

San Bernardino, which finished shooting 30.4% from the field, was led by Carpenter with 18 points and Williams with 13.

Dominguez Hills continues conference play Saturday night with a home game against Cal Poly Pomona (9-6, 0-1).