By Jeremy Gonzalez, Co-Sports Editor
While the CSUDH women’s basketball team will need a miracle to make the postseason, the men’s team received a lifeline from Colten Kresl and Armstrong Ojunkwu, assuring the team is still in the CCAA playoff race.
With only four games remaining, the women are three games out of a playoff spot, while the men hold the final seed with a one game lead.
Both teams face a tough final stretch as at least half of their games come against possible playoff teams.
The men’s team (7-11 conference record) moved into eighth place to take a full grasp of the final playoff spot after splitting their road trip 1-1 last weekend.
A double-overtime victory against Cal State San Marcos is the real reason why the Toros moved into the final playoff spot. Kresl dropped 38 points against the Otters, the second-most points in a single game by any Toro in the team’s history.
But it was Ojunkwu who saved the game for the Toros (twice) when he put back Kresl’s initial shot at the end of regulation to tie the game at 86 and send the game to overtime, then followed that up by tipping in Wonder Smith’s shot to win the game 107-105 for the Toros.
The Toros also faced off against the No. 4 ranked UC San Diego Tritons for the second time this season. Turnovers cost the team as it was defeated 88-73 at Rimac Arena. 13 second-half turnovers allowed the Tritons to pull away with a victory.
The women (7-11 conference record) are tied for ninth place, three games behind Humboldt State and Stanislaus State (tied at 11-9).
The women’s playoff hopes suffered a setback after losing last week’s road games to UC San Diego and Cal State San Marcos.
Conference leader UC San Diego figured to be a difficult match for the Toros. In their first match-up earlier in the season, the Tritons beat the Toros at the Torodome 85-63 back in December. Last Thursday’s match-up at Rimac Arena yielded similar results.
The Toros were routed by the Tritons 91-58 in what would be the final regular-season game between the two schools as UC San Diego joins Division 1 and the Big West Conference in the fall. The Toros have only won three times when playing at Rimac Arena, dating back to 2001.
Cal State San Marcos hosted the Toros last Saturday for their lone regular-season match this season. The Toros only had six players available for the game and were defeated 74-55. The Otters (15-4) are currently the CCAA’s second seed.
The playoff race continues to heat up with the Toros hosting their final two regular-season games, Thursday night against Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday, which is also senior night.
Thursday’s tip-off for the women begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by the mens’ at 7:30. Senior night tip-off begins at 6:00 p.m. for the women and 8:00 p.m. for the men.
