CARSON – The Cal State Dominguez Hills men's basketball team had to play extra minutes for the second consecutive game, but this overtime period went on to become a thriller in the end as the Toros edged No. 25 Cal Poly Pomona 86-82 at the Torodome Thursday night.
Having already seen a 14-point lead go out the window in the second half, and falling behind 78-76 early into overtime,
Andrew Whitsett got the Toros hyped up with his third dunk of the night to tie the game and turn it into a 10-4 point run the rest of the period.
The win turned out to be beneficial for the Toros (12-13, 8-11 CCAA), even though Cal State LA upset No. 18 Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Monterey Bay beat Cal State San Marcos at home. The results helped the Toros leap over the Cougars for the seventh spot to the upcoming CCAA Tournament in two weeks. The Toros, Golden Eagles and Otters each have three games remaining, while the Cougars have two to go. The conference takes the top eight teams in the conference to the postseason. Despite the loss, the Broncos (18-6, 14-5 CCAA) secured a home game in the tourney's quarterfinal round on March 3 with Cal State East Bay's loss to newly-crowned CCAA regular-season champions UC San Diego, but the result also put them in a three-way tie for second place with Chico State and Cal State San Bernardino.
The Toros and second-place Coyotes clash at the Torodome to wrap up the 2019-20 home schedule Saturday at 8 p.m. Prior to tipoff, the Toros will celebrate its four seniors playing their final game on the Carson campus.
Alex Garcia led four Toros who scored in double figures tonight, dropping 20 points.
Wonder Smith had 17 points and missed a double-double opportunity by one rebound.
Colten Kresl had 15 points and Whitsett had a dozen.
Dominguez Hills, altogether, shot nearly 51 percent (32-of-63) from the field throughout the game and 76 percent (16-of-21) in the second half.
The Broncos were led by conference player of the year candidate William Christmas, who scored 30 points on the night, including a crucial 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to force the game into overtime. CPP shot 41 percent (28-of-68) throughout the game.
Rebounding continues to be huge factor for the Toros as they beat the Broncos to the glass 46-32.
Dominguez Hills had led for nearly 34 minutes in the game and went into halftime leading 28-27.
