Advertisement

COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK : Lack of Enthusiasm Helps SCC Decide to End Season

Share

For emotional and financial reasons, the Southern California College men’s basketball team has decided not to prolong its season, which ended with a loss to Biola Saturday.

The defeat in the semifinals of the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 playoffs ended the Vanguards’ attempt at consecutive trips to Kansas City, Mo., for the national tournament.

However, another couple of victories could have qualified them for the National Christian College Athletic Assn. Division I tournament. The Vanguards would have faced Christian Heritage and The Master’s for the West Regional berth.

Advertisement

But SCC Coach Bill Reynolds said he didn’t sense enough enthusiasm from the team to go after a spot in the NCCAA tournament. Another reason is that, unlike the NAIA, the NCCAA doesn’t fully reimburse participants--it picked up only half of SCC’s $7,000 tab two seasons ago.

“I know I didn’t want to go back there (Cleveland, Tenn.) if we were not really excited and ready to play,” Reynolds said. “I think they (SCC’s players) exceeded most everybody’s expectations this year except their own. I think they were expecting to get back to Kansas City.”

Two seasons ago, after losing to Biola in the District 3 final, SCC entered the NCCAA tournament as the top-seeded team but lost in the first round to Bethel (Ind.). Last season, the Vanguards won a game in the 32-team NAIA tournament in Kansas City but lost to eventual runner-up Wisconsin Eau Claire in the second round.

After that heady experience at the Kemper Arena, a possible trip to the NCCAA tournament at Bradley County High School in Cleveland, Tenn., apparently wasn’t much of an incentive.

Pacific Christian, which lost a men’s basketball playoff game to Northwest College, 86-78, Saturday, will miss the NCCAA Division II championships for the first time in four seasons. However, the Royals (30-18), who were NCCAA Division II runners-up the past two years and lost in the semifinals the year before, are seeded first in the National Bible College championships next week in Midwest City, Okla. Pacific Christian will play Calvary Bible College (16-9) of Kansas City, Mo., in the round round March 14.

Lee Erickson, PCC men’s basketball coach and athletic director, said the trip to Oklahoma will cost the school about $5,000, which he is trying to raise. He already helped raise a similar amount to send the women’s team to Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, Pa., for the NCCAA Division II tournament.

Advertisement

The Royals (17-16) will play Atlanta Christian in the first round today.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: The Chapman softball team will be playing for more than pride at the Rebel Spring Games next week in Winter Garden, Fla. The Panthers are hoping that a good showing in the series will mean a high ranking when the first NCAA Division II poll is released in mid-March, but they also realize a poor showing will hurt the reputation of West Coast softball.

Chapman is a rare Western entrant to the privately run competition, which mainly attracts teams from cold-weather climates aiming to pack in early season games. Chapman (14-2) will play eight of its 10 games against teams that were ranked in the Top 20 at the end of last season, including No. 3 Florida Southern and No. 5 Sacred Heart.

“We can really help our own chances and we can really kill them, too, but we’re so confident this year that we probably won’t have a problem,” Chapman assistant coach Janet Lloyd said. “I think we picked a good year to do it.

“The girls are so focused on why we are going there and what the job is to be done. I really think we can get out of there undefeated.”

College Division Notes

Jon Pendleton, a former assistant coach at UC Santa Barbara, has been hired as the water polo coach at Chapman. Pendleton, a University High graduate who played water polo at UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara, replaces Bill Brown who resigned after one season with the Panthers. Hired late last summer, Brown led the Panthers to a 4-25 record. . . . Doug Yates hit his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the eighth inning, to break a 2-2 tie and help the Chapman baseball team defeated The Master’s, 5-4, Tuesday. It was Yates’ second home run in two days for the Panthers (7-12), who won two of three games against California Collegiate Athletic Assn. foe UC Riverside this week.

Advertisement