Kresl on Fire to Get Toros to #postCCAAson, Claiming Season's Final Player of the Week Distinction
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Colten Kresl was tremendous in a pair of emphatic road triumphs that extended the season of Cal State Dominguez Hills, and the junior guard is thus this year’s final CCAA Player of the Week, for Feb. 24-March 1.
The native of Scottsdale, Ariz., averaged 24.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals in wins over San Francisco State (82-67) on Thursday night and Sonoma State (76-59) on Saturday afternoon. Losses by Cal State San Marcos and Cal State LA before the Toros’ finish in Rohnert Park clinched a fourth-straight CCAA Tournament berth for them as the No. 7 seed.
In San Francisco, Kresl went off for a game-high 38 points for the second time in his last five contests to match his career best. That haul made him the 11th student-athlete in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone for his career. Kresl knocked down a single-game personal high of eight three-pointers for a Cal State Dominguez Hills record, breaking the single-season mark, now with 79. He went 10-of-19 (.526) from the field, 8-of-14 (.571) from long range and made all 10 free throws for his best collegiate performance at the stripe. No other Toro reached double-figure scoring. The 38 points are a single-game high in the CCAA for 2019-20. Kresl also led all players with four assists and a season-best four steals, while contributing three rebounds.
Kresl flirted with a triple-double Saturday at Sonoma State, collecting 11 points alongside game highs of eight boards (tied), seven assists and three steals.
For the weekend, Kresl shot 13-of-32 (.406) from the floor, 8-of-19 (.421) from three-point territory and 15-of-17 (.882) from the line. He averaged 35.0 minutes.
Kresl, who has started 25 of 28 games, has stepped it up another notch during the stretch run, pouring in 156 points over the past six games, or 26.0 per outing. He is therefore up to seventh in the league with his 16.2 points-per-game season average. A first-time CCAA Player of the Week, he is the Toros’ first such selection since former teammate Jonathan Nichols on Feb. 6, 2018. Kresl was an All-CCAA First Team choice a year ago.
Cal State Dominguez Hills completed the regular season at an even 14-14 overall and 10-12 in league play. The Toros make the short trip to Pomona Tuesday to take on second-seeded Cal Poly Pomona in the CCAA Tournament quarterfinals at approximately 7:30 p.m. inside Kellogg Arena. The game can be
viewed for free on the CCAA Network.
Also nominated:
Christian Oshita, UC San Diego
Shea Rax, Cal State San Bernardino
Evan Wardlow, Cal State East Bay