No. 4 men’s squad play Central Washington on Mar. 15
This season has been historic for Toro men’s basketball. Last month, the team won the CCAA Regular Season Championship – only the fourth in the program’s history. Now, for the first time in 13 years, the team will return to the NCAA Division II tournament, this time as the No. 4 seed in the West region.
With an overall record of 22-7, the Toros enter the tournament on a mission to redeem themselves after taking some tough losses on the road. The team came up short against CSULA on Feb. 29, forcing the Toros to share CCAA title honors with CSU-San Bernardino. The squad would fall to the Golden Eagles again on Mar. 8 in the CCAA Tournament semi-final 73-75. Sophomore guard Jeremy Dent-Smith led the team with 29 points, followed by graduate guards Jakob Alamudun and Alex Garcia with 18 and 10 points, respectively.
The loss “definitely hurt,” said Dent-Smith, who is also a staff reporter for The Bulletin. “The team felt we let [the game] slip away from us.”
But all of that is history. Now, the Toros are focused on charging through the Division II tournament. The team plays No. 5 Central Washington on Mar. 15 at the University Gym in LA.
Dent-Smith said he was “extremely excited” for the tournament, and that it was an opportunity the team had looked forward to for a long time.
“I think that we have been tested this season, and we are ready for anyone in the tournament when we play how we are accustomed to playing,” he said.
Dent-Smith also lauded head coach Steve Becker for his leadership. Becker led the Toro men’s team to their first regular season title in 15 years, earning him CCAA “Coach of the Year” honors. The Toros tournament berth marks a first-time appearance for Becker.
“For many years, [Becker] has put his all into not just the program but us as players,” Dent-Smith said. “He is a genuine coach and cares about us as people more than he does as players. The award was very much deserved.”
CCAA honors for Dent-Smith, Alamudun
Dent-Smith had another big reason to celebrate the team’s winning season. He was named the CCAA “Player of the Year,” becoming only the third-ever Toro to receive the honor and the first since the 1988-89 season. Dent-Smith was the second-best scorer in the CCAA, averaging 16.9 points and 1.96 three-pointers per game. He finished fifth overall, shooting 46 percent from the field. The journalism student from Hawthorne said the honor was “beyond words.”
“It has been something I dreamed about as a kid, and sometimes I often don’t even realize how big the award was,” Dent-Smith said. “I was so glad I was able to do it with such a great team and a great school at CSUDH.”
Alamudun also received distinction as the CCAA “Newcomer of the Year.” The graduate guard was the top free-throw shooter in the conference, going almost 84 percent from the line. He was also the fifth-best scorer, averaging 15.1 points per game.