In the last two years the CCAA men’s basketball tournament didn’t mean much to the local teams. Both Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino had pretty much already secured a berth in the regional tournament so their finish wasn’t going to make much of a difference alhtough Cal State won it last year for good measure!
That won’t be the case this year. There are four games left and four teams are in the hunt for a conference title. In fact, they separated by a total of one game. But all four aren’t likely to make the West Regional.
The four would include Cal State, Cal Poly, Humboldt State and Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Dominguez is probably the best team of the four. It started the season 0-7, then got four player eligible. It has gotten better with each game and seem to have the most balance. The Toros beat the Coyotes 86-84 in overtime Friday, then celebrated as if they had won an NBA championship.
The Toros did not lead at any point in regulation. The Coyotes didn’t play poorly. The Toros just knocked down all the big shots, many of which were well defended. The Coyotes just misfired on a couple of crucial plays where they could have put the game away.
The Coyotes are at Cal State los Angeles tonight and face a must-win scenario.
Meanwhile the Broncos easily disposed of Cal State Los Angeles, 68-54. The Broncos play at Dominguez on Saturday and that hasn’t been a good matchup for them the last couple of years.
Humboldt State beat Cal State Stanislaus – just barely. Stanislaus had a whopping 31-11 lead at the half. Then the Lumberjacks started knocking down 3’s. They won 51-49, blocking three Stanislaus shots on a last possession.
Stanislaus is at Chico State tonight. The Wildcats are tough but the Lumberjacks already got their wakeup call. I don’t see them losing this one.
So the local teams have their work cut out for them. And this year’s CCAA semifinals and finals are at Humboldt State, like their job isn’t tough enough.
Both need wins tonight. Then they play their last two games next weekend at home. We’ll see how it all plays out.
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