Apr 8, 2020 4 min read

For today’s “When Sports Were Played,” we journey back to March 26, 1992. It’s the NCAA Division II men’s basketball Elite Eight and Kenney Toomer carries California to a win over South Dakota State.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Kenney Toomer has scored a lot of big points in the two years he has been at California University. But never has he been asked to carry a team in a more important game, or for a longer stretch, than he had to Thursday night.

With his teammates in deep personal foul trouble, Toomer single-handedly carried the California offense for a 10-minute stretch in the second half and led the Vulcans to an 84-73 victory over South Dakota State at the Springfield Civic Center.

California (31-1) will meet sixth-ranked Bridgeport, Conn. (27-6), a 127-124 overtime winner over Central Oklahoma in the semifinals. The winner of that game will meet the winner of the Virginia Union-Cal State Bakersfield semifinal for the Division II championship.

But the Vulcans couldn’t have done it without Toomer, who had to carry California when teammates James Kirkland, Chris Williams, Rick Hill and Todd McLoughlin were saddled with foul problems.

Toomer scored 35 of California’s first 62 points, including a key stretch of seven straight when South Dakota State had closed within three points with 12:28 left in the game.

“You have to give a lot of credit to the entire team, starting with the guys off the bench,” California head coach Jim Boone said. “Kenney did a great job of putting the ball in the basket and that’s his role. But he had a lot of help from his teammates in getting him the ball in scoring situations.

“I felt that Chad Scott gave us some tremendous minutes off the bench when James Kirkland was in foul trouble, and Todd McLoughlin was superb, especially down the stretch when we needed solid play.”

California led throughout and with a fast start, appeared ready to put South Dakota State away early. The Vulcans, with Toomer scoring seven straight points, took a 29-16 lead with 7:31 left to play in the first half. They would retain that edge until the final seconds of the half when a bizarre sequence closed Cal’s halftime edge to 41-30.

With two seconds left in the half Kirkland fouled the Jackrabbits’ Troy Bouman. After making the first shot, Bouman appeared to miss the second and Toomer seemed to accidentally tip the ball into the basket. With the SDSU bench screaming for a basket, the officials allowed the half to end and, after a long consultation, took one point off the board and ruled that Bowman’s free throw was good.

South Dakota State (25-8) slowly worked back into the game as California slipped deeper into foul trouble. Kirkland, who finished strong and had 15 points and 11 rebounds, had to take a breather with 13:44 to play with four fouls. During that stretch, South Dakota State closed a 10-point California lead to 50-47.

But that spurt was answered by Toomer, who electrified the Civic Center crowd with his scoring touch. His three-point jumper with 8;25 to play gave California a 62-54 lead. That would be his last basket of the game, as he would finish with 35 points, two short of his season high. Toomer also had 15 rebounds.

With the eight-point lead and eight minutes left, it was time for Toomer to get some help. And he received some from Williams. Williams hit nine of 11 free throws down the stretch to finish with 11 points and Kirkland was also a force on the boards.

“This was the most critical situation we have been in during a game since we played at (South Carolina) Spartanburg,” Boone said of the game that was California’s only loss of the season. The No. 1-ranked Vulcans have won 29 straight since. “Our guys did a nice job of handling the adversity.”

South Dakota State did close to within four points with 3:39 to play when Chris White, who had 30 points, hit a three-point shot and a free throw. But Williams and Kirkland each hit free throws in the next two minutes to help California pull away.

Jeff Booher finished with 11 points while Bouman added 10 for South Dakota State. California shot 52 percent for the game while South Dakota State hit just 33 percent. The Jackrabbits did convert 25 of 29 free throws.

“We now have great respect for Cal’s defense,” said South Dakota State head coach Jim Thorson. “They forced us into a makeshift offense, just trying to make something happen. I give all of the credit in the world to Cal. They played a great game.”