SCC Loses to Biola at Home

The Southern California College men’s basketball team can at least be happy that it didn’t have to watch its hopes of beating Biola leave the court when top-scorer Rob Lucas fouled out with seven minutes to play.

They were already gone.

Lucas had scored 24 of the Vanguards’ 42 points, and had kept SCC close until halftime, when Biola led, 34-31. But Biola (16-1), the sixth-ranked team in the NAIA, put the game away early in the second half, taking a 75-56 District 3 victory in front of 650 at Costa Mesa.

By the time Lucas committed his fifth foul, hacking Gary Hook inside as he made a shot from the lane, the game was out of reach.

SCC had tied it, 36-36, but Biola outscored the Vanguards, 22-2, taking a 58-38 lead with nine minutes remaining.

Lucas had scored all but three of SCC’s points in the first 14 minutes of the second half. A key factor, though, was that SCC had scored but 11.

“We got impatient, obviously,” said SCC Coach Bill Reynolds, whose team lost at home for the first time this season. “We’re not a real experienced team and not a mentally tough team. We lost our poise.”

SCC, which had its third-straight loss, played without leading rebounder Randy Wynne (injured ankle) for the third straight game.

SCC (11-6) kept it close in the first half, using a 2-3 zone defense to limit Biola’s leading scorer, 6-foot 5-inch Johnny Griffin, to four points and 6-7 Hook to six.

But Griffin and Hook had their way in the second half, and each finished with 17. Jeff Martineau, whose outside shooting (including 2 of 2 from three-point range) opened up the inside, finished with 20.

In a women’s game:

Biola 92, Southern California College 79--After holding a 47-44 halftime lead, the Vanguards lost in a District 3 game at SCC.

Center Mary Beth Nelson had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Kelly Kramer had 20 points to lead the Eagles (7-1, 14-4).

Southern California College (3-3, 7-12) was led by Connie Brazell with 14 points and 12 assists and Dolores Effinger with 13 points and 11 rebounds.