College Notebook : Clippers, Suns Blamed for Lack of Interest in Exhibition Game

Moorpark College has had little trouble attracting fans for its men’s basketball games at home, but trying to sell Raider followers on the Los Angeles Clippers was futile.

Moorpark was scheduled to play Oxnard in an exhibition game at the Sports Arena on Wednesday night before the start of the game between the Clippers and the Phoenix Suns. The game was canceled, however, because neither school could sell enough tickets. Both Moorpark and Oxnard were required to sell 200 general admission tickets.

“If it was the Forum and the Lakers were playing, it would have been easy to sell the tickets,” Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist said. “People aren’t going to pay good money to watch the Clippers play Phoenix. We played last year before a Celtics game and it was hard enough to sell those tickets.”

Nordquist said Moorpark and Oxnard canceled the exhibition game earlier this month, soon after the schools received the tickets. Moorpark (10-5) plays Glendale in its Western State Conference opener Jan. 7.

Cold shoulders: The California State University system’s policy of turning off the central heat as a cost-cutting measure over the Christmas break left a lot of people hot under the collar this week. And with good reason.

Playing basketball in sub-50 degree temperatures probably isn’t the best way to teach students about health and fitness, but it is a fair bet that they are learning about the common cold. Or worse.

Rusty Smith, CSUN’s assistant basketball coach, was laughing when he said the CSUN gym was so cold “it was like walking into a morgue.” Talk about gallows humor.

The conditions, however, seemed to pump life into CSUN center Todd Bowser, who said that the chilly conditions inside didn’t bother him during the Matadors’ games this week against Cal State Hayward and Fort Lewis College of Colorado. He scored 49 points and had 22 rebounds in the two games.

Bowser said the conditions were worse during last Saturday’s practice when the Matadors returned from a three-day break.

“We had to open the doors to let the warmer air in,” he said.

After the Hayward game, Bowser intercepted a towel-clad teammate headed toward the showers.

“You’re crazy if you go in there, there’s no hot water,” Bowser told him.

On the road again: CSUN soccer player Joey Kirk will travel with the U. S. National team to Guatemala for a three-game tour Jan. 5-17.

Kirk, an All-American forward who scored 30 goals this season, will return to play in the Senior Bowl at Santa Ana Stadium on Jan. 24.

The U. S. team is coached by Lothar Osiander, who is also the coach for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Kirk is one of five college players on the team who could not participate in the three Olympic qualifying matches the U. S. team played during the college season. In Guatemala, the United States will play two games against the Guatemalan national team and one against a professional team.

“This is probably the last little get-together before Lothar gets his player pool together for qualifying for Seoul,” Kirk said. “Hopefully, I can open his eyes. I’m sure I’ll see some playing time and I’ll try to do my best.

“I don’t feel pressure, but in past games with the national team, I didn’t let my style come out. Now I have a different attitude. I’m going to do my best and do what got me there.”

Single-handed performances: Oral Elrington, Valley’s 6-6 freshman center who missed two games because of torn ligaments in the ring finger on his left hand, returned to the lineup this week.

Elrington’s return did not help Valley snap its losing streak, however. Valley (3-14) lost to the College of the Redwoods, 81-78, Tuesday in the consolation semifinals of the Santa Rosa tournament, its fourth consecutive loss. The setback bumped Valley from the double-elimination tournament.

Playing with a splint on his injured finger, Elrington scored 13 in each of the past two games. His rebounding has been hampered, however, by the injury.

“I would go up, but couldn’t grab anything with my left hand,” Elrington said. “The ball kept slipping out. The coach would get mad, but then realized that it was my finger.”

Valley Coach Jim Stephens said it was important for Elrington to return to the lineup before the Monarchs’ Southern California Conference opener Wednesday.

“He needed to play, because after missing a few games his timing was off and he was getting out of shape,” Stephens said.

Homeward-bound: The CSUN women’s basketball team will ring in the new year with a much-needed respite from playing on the road.

After playing eight of their first 10 games on the road, the Lady Matadors will play host to West Point on Saturday and Humboldt State on Monday.

CSUN Coach Leslie Milke hopes that playing at home will help her struggling team improve its 3-7 record.

“We’re a little behind schedule, but we’re a young team and it has taken the younger players longer than anticipated to adjust,” Milke said. “The month of December was a killer, but I think everyone will be rested when conference opens.”

After traveling to Portland for two games, CSUN opens California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play at home against Cal State L. A. on Jan. 15. The Lady Matadors play four of their first five conference games at home.

Broken record: Steve deLaveaga continued his assault on the Cal Lutheran record book. After tying a career-high scoring mark with 38 points against Cal State Stanislaus, he has scored 29 and 23 points, respectively, in CLU’s past two games.

DeLaveaga’s 23 points led CLU to an 85-72 victory over The Master’s on Tuesday night. He has led the Kingsmen (3-7) in scoring in 10 consecutive games this season.

Staff writers Ralph Nichols and Gary Klein contributed to this notebook.