Seaside, CA -- Four days after falling to the last place team in the regular season CCAA finale, Cal State Dominguez Hills came up with an inspiring 56-53 victory at Cal State Monterey Bay in the first round of the CCAA Conference Tournament, punching a ticket to Friday's semifinal game at Cal State San Bernardino where they will face Cal Poly Pomona in one semifinal after the Broncos upset top-seeded Humboldt State in Arcata earlier tonight.  The other semifinal game will pit San Francisco State and UC San Diego, who upset 3rd-seeded Cal State L.A. and 2nd-seeded CS San Bernardino, respectively.

With the win, CSUDH improves to 17-10 overall and now is the top seed left in the tournament, while CSUMB's season ends at 12-15.

The Toros came out inspired, taking their first lead at the 11:06 mark on a lay-up by Rodney Yearby to give them an 11-10 advantage.  After a trey by Nonso Nibo increased the lead to four, a Nibo jam gave CSUDH a 16-10 lead with just under nine minutes to go in the first half.

The Otters, however, matched CSUDH's energy and outscored the Toros 19-13 over the final minutes to head into the break tied at 29-29.

After the intermission, the Toros regained their momentum with an 11-5 run, the last points coming on a old-fashioned three-point play by Yearby.  CSUMB again answered and whittled the lead to two after a Steve Monreal lay-up and Jose Sanchez 3-pointer, eventually forging another tie at 48-48 with 6:59 left in regulation.

After an ensuing Danny Tavares jumper on CSUDH's next possession gave the Toros a two-point lead, both teams went cold over the next four minutes, until an Augie Johnston trey gave the hosts a 51-50 lead with 2:52 left in the game.

Unfazed, Jonathan Toliver answered with a three of his own from the top of the key and, after Justin Willis tied the game at 53-53 on a pair of free throws, drilled a long two as the shot clock expired to keep momentum donned in Cardinal and Gold with 61 ticks left on the clock.

CSUMB was forced to foul after a missed attempt and James Cawthorne gave the Toros a little breathing room by sinking the front end of his 1-and-1.  Following another Otter miss, CSUDH gave the hosts one more chance by missing its next 1-and-1 attempt, but D'Shon Cannon's 3-point attempt with :03 left hit the back of the rim, sending the Toros to San Bernardino.

Yearby and Nibo finished with 13 points apiece, while the CSUDH defense held CSUMB to just 36.7% shooting for the game.  Jerrell Smith (pictured) tallied a double-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds and one block, which established himself as the CSUDH single-season block record holder with 53 swats this year.

"It was a tough game, but the guys came out inspired after the embarrassing loss to Chico," begins CSUDH head coach Damaine Powell.  "We just wanted to come up here and play as hard as we could, and give ourselves a chance to play one more game.  The key to the win was our defense.  We played with tremendous passion and effort and didn't want the season to end. 

"The passion showed up tonight."