Bradshaw Gets Help; Gulls Win

SAN DIEGO — U.S. International University had just finished defeating visiting Eastern Washington, 102-93, and Coach Gary Zarecky had a dilemma. He couldn’t find a single player to hold up as the game’s hero.

Which is about the most positive point he could have made.

Too many times this season, Zarecky has been able to point to a single player as the key to a victory. And that player was usually Kevin Bradshaw.

But after the season’s most positive victory, names starting rolling off Zarecky’s tongue like his team rolls up points.

“I think Mike Sterner had a great night,” Zarecky said. “Steve Smith also had a good game and Kevin Bradshaw was a key. And (Demetrius) Laffitte had a solid game.”

After Zarecky was done with roll call, he tried to put the game in perspective.

“Monumental,” Zarecky said. “I think the players understood--in our own back yard--it was time to stop talking and grasp onto something. I’m talking about how Eastern Washington handled USD.

“We’re not taking anything away from USD, we’re just pointing to what a quality team Eastern Washington is.”

The Eagles (3-5) defeated USD, 79-64, Tuesday and lost by just five to a solid UC Santa Barbara team Saturday. The Gulls, on the other hand, were coming off a loss at home to Wright State and eight losses in their past nine games.

But the Gulls pulled together for the first time this season to defeat Eastern Washington.

And Bradshaw was probably the happiest of the bunch to see it finally happen.

USIU, which was making a habit of looking to Bradshaw, couldn’t find the high-scoring guard against Wright State.

“I made a promise to the team at practice this week that it wouldn’t happen again,” Bradshaw said. “I told them you would not see that Kevin Bradshaw again. I’ve made my reputation as a scorer, now I need to work on the other parts of my game.”

And part of his game is to get the other players involved. He did that against Eastern Washington. Bradshaw, who is fifth in the country in scoring, hit his 30-point average but also had eight assists. Bradshaw was 14 of 14 from the line.

“I have to get the other players involved,” Bradshaw said. “It’s going to be easier on me. I like it that way a lot better.”

Laffitte had 20 points and nine rebounds and Smith had 19 points. Sterner added 11 points and eight rebounds for USIU (4-8).

Eastern Washington looked as if it would make it 2-0 against San Diego teams when it jumped to a 5-0 lead. But the Gulls answered. Smith made two free throws to give USIU a 29-28 lead and the Gulls never trailed again.

USIU led 44-27 at halftime and began to slowly pull away early in the second half. The Gulls led 91-79, when Eastern Washington rallied to cut the lead to 93-85 with 2:50 remaining. Zarecky called a timeout after Bradshaw scored and the Gulls went to a half-court game.

“It’s a big victory for us,” Zarecky said. “If we can get on a roll, this team’s going to get better. We have to beat a team like that to start a roll.”