CSLA Rallies by USIU

U.S. International’s basketball team calls Golden Hall home. But after Thursday’s 105-103 loss to Cal State Los Angeles, the Gulls’ home floor has become an unofficial house of ghastly horrors. They haven’t won there since March 3, 1990. They are 0-8 at Golden Hall this season.

Mike Varos, a 5-foot-7 reserve guard for the Division II Eagles, made this game another exercise in futility when he hit a two-handed set shot from three-point land with three seconds remaining.

USIU, 1-19 and the loser of 15 games in a row, led most of the contest--twice by 13 points. The Gulls led by nine with eight minutes remaining in the game. They led, 103-102, and had the ball with 36 seconds left. But Marc Tuite threw the ball away.

CSLA (6-12) burned off 33 of the final 36 seconds trying to get a high-percentage shot. Then the Eagles kicked the ball out to Mike Varos, who was free above the key beyond the three-point line. Varos’ basket gave him seven points for the game.

Varos’ shot wiped out brillant individual performances by Gulls Kevin Bradshaw, who had 53 points, and Isaac Brown, who finished with 26 points and 18 rebounds. And it destroyed any idea that USIU could pick up a win against CSLA, which had lost four in row, eight of its last nine and was facing its first Division I opponent. On the road.

“This is about as low as you go,” USIU Coach Gary Zarecky said. “We knew in the huddle (during an Eagle time out with 17 seconds left) who was going to shoot the ball. We didn’t stay on him.”

Bradshaw might have played his best overall game of the season, better even than his NCAA-record 72-point performance Jan. 5 against Loyola Marymount. He shot 56% from the field, making 17 of 30 shots and was five for seven in three-point attempts. He was 14 for 15 from the free-throw line, missing his last attempt on a possible three-point play with USIU leading, 99-97.

He had six rebounds, three blocked shots and five assists. He also had a team-high eight turnovers (USIU had 25) as the Eagles double-teamed him in shifts on defense and put chasers on him all night. Bradshaw leads the NCAA in scoring with a 36.15 average. But throughout the game Bradshaw was panting and clutching his trunks. Down the stretch, he was passing off to teammates when he had a number of shooting opportunities.

“I wanted to some other shooters involved to open things up and create something,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to force any shots. They couldn’t relieve the pressure. It’s toward the end of the season and I’m trying to play a more complete game.”

Bradshaw’s spinning jumper from the baseline gave USIU a 103-102 lead with 1:03 remaining. Then after CSLA missed and the Gulls’ looked for Bradshaw to score again, Tuite threw a pass out of bounds. It was USIU’s fifth turnover in the final four minutes, and it put the Eagles in position to win.

After Varos scored and left three seconds on the clock, Bradshaw couldn’t get free for a pass to mid-court. Instead, he tried to bring it up the floor and tried shooting from beyond half court.

“This team has no space to get cocky and turn into a bunch of pretty boys once we get up by 13,” Bradshaw said. “We didn’t play with heart.”