Toros Nip Riverside, Tie for Lead

RIVERSIDE —  Cal State Dominguez Hills put an end to its shooting slump Thursday night and with it the short-lived reign of UC Riverside as the No. 1-ranked Division II team in the nation.

The 18th-ranked Toros made eight of their first 11 field goal attempts, blew a 14-point second-half lead, then clawed back in a physical game to upset the Highlanders, 72-67, in overtime, before a standing-room-only crowd of 955.

The victory avenged a 59-58 loss to Riverside and pulled the two clubs into a first-place tie in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. It also snapped Riverside’s 18-game win streak, which was one shy of the CCAA record it set in 1982. The teams are 8-1 in conference play. Riverside is 19-3 overall, Dominguez Hills, riding the crest of a seven-game winning streak, is 16-6.

Anthony Blackmon, who missed a 17-foot jumper with nine seconds to go in their first meeting, a shot that would have handed Dominguez Hills the victory, iced the game Thursday night with two free throws in the final five seconds.

Dominguez Hills, which had shot only 41.3% from the floor in its last five games, blistered the nets in the first half, making 15 of 22 attempts. Not only did the Toros outshoot the top-ranked Highlanders in the first 20 minutes, but Dominguez Hills out-rebounded them, as well, 13-9.

For the game the Toros made 61% of their field goal attempts (26 of 43).

UCR’s inability to make free throws in the overtime cost its national ranking, which it had held for just two weeks. The Highlanders missed four charity tosses to open the period and made just three of eight attempts. Dominguez Hills countered by hitting eight of nine.

Yet for nearly 10 minutes of the second period Dominguez Hills could not buy a field goal as Riverside went on a 15-3 scoring spurt that knotted the game at 51 with 6:33 left.

From that point on the lead changed hands or was tied 10 times before regulation ended, 60-60, sending Dominguez Hills into its fourth overtime game of the year.

Dominguez Hills grabbed a 65-60 lead on a pair of free throws by Robert Barksdale and a 3-point play by Blackmon. Riverside cut the lead to 65-64 with 1:53 left on a pair of free throws by Chris Ceballos.

Despite nine turnovers, Dominguez Hills took a 37-30 halftime lead. A 3-point basket by Riverside guard Chris Jackson tied the score at 12 with 13:40 to go, but the Toros took a 16-12 lead on a basket by Derrick Clark with 11:35 to go in the half. Dominguez Hills upped its lead to 22-16 at 8:21 when Blackmon grabbed his own miss and put in a layup.

Pat Viera scored five consecutive points for the Highlanders to cut the Toro lead to 22-21 with 6:43 left.

But Barksdale retaliated with five consecutive points to spur a 15-9 run that closed the half. In all, the 6-1 sophomore guard scored nine points in the rally.

A 10-foot base-line shot by Clark and a 3-point basket by Blackmon opened a 42-30 Dominguez Hills lead in the first minute of the second half.

Riverside 65, Dominguez Hills 44--The Highlander women (7-15, 2-5) avenged an earlier loss and dropped Dominguez into the CCAA cellar. The Lady Toros (6-14, 1-7) got within 10 points with 11 minutes to go. Guard Devon Akita (13 points) was the only player for Dominguez Hills to score in double figures. Center Khyra Anderson had 16 rebounds.