COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW : Master’s, CLU Call for High Pressure and Warming Trend

The forecast at The Master’s College and Cal Lutheran looks like 80s and 90s with occasional highs in the 100s.

Scores should soar in Newhall and Thousand Oaks during the upcoming men’s basketball season, and temperatures in each school’s gym might begin to climb as well when these teams start to heat up their hoops.

Each team plans to be more up-tempo than a hummingbird.

“I would hope we would be above ninety” points per game, said Cal Lutheran Coach Mike Dunlap, whose team scored 100 or more in its two scrimmages.

Master’s Coach Mel Hankinson believes that if his players can put points on the board, the team will put fans in the stands.

“This year you better get here early if you want a seat,” Hankinson said. “You’re not going to sell many tickets if you continue to play games in the fifties.”

If it sounds like Master’s and Cal Lutheran will be pressing to score so many points, they will. Hankinson says his team will utilize a press 40 minutes a game, and Dunlap says his team will show some form of press for two-thirds of each game.

It is difficult to impress NAIA District 3 coaches, though. In a preseason poll, the coaches chose Westmont first, Master’s fifth and Cal Lutheran 11th out of 13 teams.

Dunlap, whose team struggled to a 5-21 record in his first season at Cal Lutheran, believes that he has upgraded his squad’s talent.

“We’ve got better shooters,” Dunlap said. “We’ve helped ourself particularly at the point position and the post position.”

Dunlap said his wing players have the green light to shoot. He can only hope that when his shooters try to heat up, they don’t do so with brick ovens.

That should not be a problem with scorer deluxe Jeff deLaveaga in the backcourt.

DeLaveaga, a 6-4 junior off-guard, was second in the NCAA Division II in scoring last season at 26.9 points a game. DeLaveaga, who also grabbed 5.6 rebounds a game, has bulked up and scored more than 70 points in the two scrimmages.

“DeLaveaga is much more efficient,” Dunlap said. “His passing is improved. His ballhandling is improved.”

Paul Tapp, a 6-1 freshman from Burbank High, will start at small forward, and Carl Champion, a 6-4 senior who averaged 5.6 points and 4.5 rebounds a game, will start at power forward. Hank Hou, a 5-10 freshman from Marshall, will play point guard. Simon O’Donnell, a 6-6 transfer from Lassen College, will man the post.

O’Donnell has lost 10 pounds through Dunlap’s preseason training regimen.

Cal Lutheran will open at 9 tonight against UC Santa Cruz in the first round of the Menlo tournament.

Hankinson believes he has enough talent to play a schedule that includes more than 10 Division II opponents, including Division II runner-up Bakersfield.

“We’re not playing a church league,” Hankinson said. “We’ve moved the schedule up two whole notches.”

All five starters return from a team that finished 19-17, the team’s first winning record since the 1971-72 season, and earned its first appearance in the NAIA District 3 playoffs.

“They’ll be a top-10 NAIA team,” Hankinson said.

Junior forward Tom Bruner (6-6) averaged 17.6 points and 8.3 rebounds a game and was named to the NAIA All-District 3 team. Junior swingman Jason Webster (6-4) averaged 14.6 points and 6.3 rebounds.

Junior point guard Damon Greer (6-0) averaged 8.5 points and 6-6 junior forward Stuart Epperson averaged 9.6 points and 4.3 rebounds. Senior swingman Jeff Newton (6-4) averaged 8.7 points.

Five transfers, three from junior colleges and two from Division I schools, join 10 lettermen. Bruce Watson, a 6-5 junior from Moorpark, has impressed Hankinson with his shooting, and the Division I transfers, Joe Jon Bryant (6-7) from Richmond and Terry Minnoy (5-10) from Idaho State, will become eligible Dec. 21.

Master’s will begin play at home in its Tip-Off tournament today with an 8 p.m. game against San Jose Christian.