Season Ends as Toro Comeback Comes Up Short in 80-78 Loss at Chico State in CCAA Tourney

Box Score

CHICO -- Sixth-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills erased seven points of a nine point deficit in the final 40 seconds of tonight's 1st-round CCAA Tournament match-up at third-seeded Chico State, but senior Myron Green's open look from three as the clock hit double zeros came up short as the Wildcats took a heart-stopping 80-78 win to end the Toros' 2012-13 season tonight in Acker Gym.

With the loss to the Wildcats, the third time in the past four years CSUC has gotten the best of the Toros in the CCAA tournament, the Toros end their campaign at 16-14, with seniors Green, Ricardo de la Rosa, Matt Cain, Ryan Jefferson and Lamine Diame having concluded their playing careers in Cardinal and Gold.

"It was a great game, and I'm really proud of our team and our seniors who led us to 6 wins in the final 8 games before tonight," begins head coach Damaine Powell.

"We showed a lot of heart coming back from two big deficits to give ourselves a chance to tie or win it in the final seconds, but you've got to give Chico credit. They shot the ball well, they are well coached and have good kids, and it's always fun to compete against them, and especially tonight in a 'March Madness' type atmosphere with two teams really going at it."

Threes reigned from Acker Gym as Wildcat Damario Sims connected on all four of his long-range attempts en route to a Chico State 10-point lead at 18-8 just over five minutes into the contest, with the hosts finishing the first half with 8 3-point makes in 11 attempts.

Trailing by 11 after another Wildcat triple, CSUDH began to cut into its deficit, using consecutive de la Rosa buckets to get to within 25-20 at the 10:14 mark, and then to two on a DeShaun Freeman lay-up four minutes later.

The hosts, however, kept their edge despite a Green bucket closing the half's scoring as the Toros went into the break down 37-35.

The Wildcats took charge to begin the second session, using an 11-2 run to extend their lead to 11 less than three minutes into the period.

The lead was 12 until a Givon Crump lay-up cut CSUDH's deficit to single digits at 8 at 14:33, with a Crump triple bringing CSUDH to 6 three minutes later.

CSUC looked to seize control of the game for good after taking a 9-point lead with 40 seconds left after a Jason Conrad flush, but the Toros got as hot as the Wildcats got cold, using threes by Freeman and Clark to get to within 78-75 just 18 seconds later, and to 80-78 after a Pierson Williams three from the corner with a Wildcat draped all over him answered a pair of free throws by Rashad Parker just five seconds earlier.

Down by two, CSUDH's defense forced a Wildcat turnover and a CSUC foul sent Green to the line with a chance to tie the game with :09 left.

Hitting 77.8% of his free throws this year, Green missed both attempts, with the ensuing rebound glancing off a Wildcat to give CSUDH one more chance to tie or win with 2.2 seconds left in regulation.

Green had one final chance to redeem himself after receiving the inbounds pass from Strauther, but his shot from the top of the key hit the front of the rim and bounced off the backboard, eliciting a collective sigh of relief and disbelief from the Acker faithful that signaled a trip to the CCAA semifinal on Friday night in Ontario.

"Myron showed so much heart," Powell continues. "I tried to sub him out towards the end of the game but as a senior and a leader, he wanted to finish the game and stayed in."

Clark finished with 17 points and Crump 16 to lead the Toros, while Sims' 22 points led all scorers as well as a quartet of Wildcats to reach at least 10 points in Chico's win.

The Toros dominated the boards 38 to 29, but Chico State's three more 3-point makes and 5 more free throws made spelled the difference in front of the announced crowd of 933.

"I thought we had a great season," Powell concludes. "Sixteen wins is pretty good, and we'll retool for next year and be back."

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Season Ends as Toro Comeback Comes Up Short in 80-78 Loss at Chico State in CCAA Tourney