CSUN Hoping Strong Finish Begins a Trend

When the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team prevented Montana State from taking the lead in the final minute of Tuesday night’s 81-77 win, it exorcised the demons of losses to Cal State Long Beach, Northern Arizona and St. Mary’s.

In two of those games, CSUN (4-12) lost by a combined five points. In the other, against Long Beach, the Matadors lost by nine points after leading by six with 5 minutes 45 seconds left.

In each of the three losses, the Matadors collapsed.

Against Northern Arizona, Northridge quickly fell behind. Although the Matadors were in position to win with the score tied and 42 seconds left, they threw the ball out of bounds with six seconds remaining and lost on a buzzer-beating, three-point shot.

Against St. Mary’s, Andre Chevalier was trying to set up the offense for a game-winning shot in the waning seconds when he slipped and was whistled for traveling.

And against Long Beach, CSUN turned the ball over on five of its last six possessions.

“If we had played like this, we would have beaten Long Beach,” scoring leader Keith Gibbs said after the win over Montana State. “Everybody on our team knew we had it in us. It just had to come out.”

Said Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy: “If you come out every game with intensity, it has a tendency to carry over. I’m really happy for the guys. It was a great effort.”

QUOTEWORTHY

Cassidy, on his team’s 83-81 win over NCAA Division II foe Fort Lewis last Tuesday.

“People will talk about this win as an ugly win, but it’s pretty to me at this time. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”

BACK IN THE SADDLE

Tom Parker of Cal State Northridge, who underwent surgery for a ruptured disk in his back in early December, has begun working out again and is expected to be pole vaulting competitively by the end of February, according to Northridge assistant Tim Werner.

Parker had the most productive season of his career last year when he redshirted at Northridge and competed instead for Advantage Athletics, a Northridge-based track and field club. The 1988 graduate of Notre Dame High raised his personal best to 17 feet 4 1/2 inches and cleared 17 feet in several other meets despite being bothered frequently by pain in his back and legs.

“It’s something that’s been an on-and-off problem for the past two seasons,” Werner said. “It seemed like every time he really started to train hard, he’d get the pains. He’d start getting really strong and his back would start giving him problems.”

If Parker can stay healthy this season, the junior has a good chance to break the Northridge record of 17-4, set by Dion Guiliano in 1984.

KEEPING TRACK

Billy Dixon and Brock Chase, two of the region’s top track and field athletes at Hart and Antelope Valley highs last season, will compete for Northern Arizona and Humboldt State, respectively, this spring.

Dixon placed third in the 3,200 meters in the Southern Section 4-A Division championships last year and has a best of 9 minutes 10.97 seconds.

Chase placed third in the 4-A meet in the high jump and has a personal best of 6-10.

VALLEY SPARK

The Valley men’s basketball team has been on a roll. After struggling at the outset with inconsistency and scoring droughts, the Monarchs (11-8) entered Wednesday night’s game against Oxnard with four wins in their past five games.

Much of the reason for the turnaround has been the play of returning all-conference forward Russell Baldwin. However, Baldwin sustained a sprained right ankle during practice Monday and was not supposed to play against Oxnard. He also is questionable for Saturday’s game at Ventura.

The timing could not have been worse for Baldwin, who was coming off a season-high 29-point effort last Saturday against Cuesta.

“Russell is playing better offensively and he’s rebounding more like himself,” Valley Coach Jim Stephens said.

Baldwin (6-foot-5, 205 pounds) is averaging 15.7 points and 7.7 rebounds a game. Along with fellow forward Randy Brown (18.6 points and a conference-leading 12.4 rebounds a game), Valley has two of the most productive players in the WSC.

HARM BUT NO FOUL

With averages of 28.7 points and 11 rebounds a game, Antelope Valley forward D.J. Jackson has made a smooth transition to junior college basketball after completing a four-year stint in the Navy.

Jackson said that one of the biggest differences between playing basketball in college and in the armed services is that college referees are inclined to call more fouls for physical play underneath the basket.

Armed forces basketball was a different story.

“I remember one time (in the Navy) I got the ball down low and as I turned the (defender) just straight elbowed me right in the chest and knocked the wind out of me,” the 6-8, 210-pound Jackson said. “It was like, bam, he knocked me down and the referee looked down at me and said, ‘This is a man’s game.’ ”

No foul.

READY TO CHALLENGE

Although Debby Blanchard, the first-year women’s basketball coach at Canyons, did not have a chance to recruit before the season because of the timing of her hiring, she is not complaining. Blanchard is optimistic that the players she inherited this season will challenge defending champion Valley once Western State Conference South Division action begins.

“We’ve got a long road ahead of us, but we believe we can beat Valley,” said Blanchard, whose team (9-11, 3-0 in conference play) will play host to the Monarchs on Jan. 25. “We definitely feel we can beat them at (Canyons).”

Shannon Solway, a returning All-WSC guard from Simi Valley High, leads Canyons with an 18.2 scoring average. Sophomore teammate Kim Fischer also has played a key role on offense (11.4 points, 7.0 rebounds) and defense.

Kate Stoll is among the top freshmen for Canyons. The 5-foot-9 Ribet Academy graduate came off the bench to score a season-high 18 points against Moorpark on Saturday. Stoll earned All-Southern Section honors as a softball player at Ribet, and is being recruited in that sport by UCLA.

SPRINGBOARD

After being selected Monday in the inaugural Professional Spring Football League draft, former Cal State Northridge standouts Albert Fann and Mario Hull are seriously considering playing in the 10-team league that will begin play Feb. 29.

Fann, who was selected by the Nevada Aces, said he believes that it could give him the exposure he needs to attract interest from the National Football League. Last summer, Fann was cut by the New York Giants as a free-agent fullback. A tailback at Northridge, he finished his Matador career in 1990 as the school’s all-time rushing leader with 4,170 yards.

Hull, an All-Western Football Conference linebacker last season, tried out for the PSFL Jan. 4 with hundreds of other prospects at Cal State Long Beach.

“I’ll consider it if I don’t get any calls from the NFL before the draft,” Hull said. “I’ve gotten letters, but those are like being recruited in high school. It doesn’t mean anything.”

The pair will have to decide soon; the league opens training camp Jan. 27.

REALISTIC VIEW

True, Northridge’s 10th-year soccer coach, Marwan Ass’ad, is an aficionado who seems oblivious to anything or anyone not related to soccer.

But that is only on the surface. Ass’ad, a former professional player, actually knows that soccer is not a high priority in the United States.

“Soccer doesn’t help athletic directors (financially),” Ass’ad said. “It doesn’t help anybody except the poor soccer community. So why should they help us?”

Ass’ad, who answers his own questions, believes the athletic directors should help out of the goodness of their hearts.

The way to help, he believes, is to combine teams from various West Coast conferences and independents, such as Northridge, into a conference.

“It would be the greatest thing to happen to soccer on the West Coast,” Ass’ad said. “If we played San Diego State and we rubbed it in, they wouldn’t play us the next year. But if we are in a conference, they would have to play us. We would have rivalries. And rivalries create hoopla, which creates money.”

WINNING STREAK

The Master’s College men’s basketball team has started the year with a bang, winning its first five games. The Mustangs won four games by a comfortable margin and pulled out a one-point win over Azusa Pacific on Jan. 7.

Coach Mel Hankinson attributed the streak to four factors.

First, the Mustangs are playing better as a team. “They’re seniors and . . . they are just starting to hit their stride,” he said.

Secondly, the players are playing better individually. “Each of the players is getting in the rhythm of the games,” he said, citing forward Jason Webster’s perimeter play, forward Joe Jon Bryant’s rebounding and shooting, and guard Damon Greer’s role on fast breaks.

Thirdly, Master’s is playing better defense. “Our pressure defense has been forcing opponents into 20 turnovers-plus,” he said.

Finally, mental toughness. “The tough preseason schedule has helped us win games in the midseason,” he said.

BRYANT RETURNS

Bryant, who sat out the first five games of the season because some questions regarding his eligibility had to be worked out, has emerged as a powerful force.

“He makes a big difference in the middle of the court,” Hankinson said.

The 6-7 Bryant started the week third on the team in scoring (10.5 average) and rebounding (5.1 average) behind fellow forwards Webster (14.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Tom Bruner (12.4, 5.3).

Bryant, who transferred from Richmond, an NCAA Division I school, and played for Master’s last season, also has added an element of excitement to Master’s.

“He has invented ways to jam the ball,” Hankinson said, “and our fans particularly enjoy his 360-(degree) slams.”

LOOKING AHEAD

The Cal Lutheran men’s basketball team has its sights set on a high finish in its first season in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The Kingsmen struggled early in the season but expect to do well in conference play, which began this week. If last season is an indication, Cal Lutheran should record a winning SCIAC record. The Kingsmen played each SCIAC team twice last season and went 8-6 against those opponents, defeating each team at least once except Pomona-Pitzer, which beat the Kingsmen twice.

“We’re just concerned about conference,” Cal Lutheran Coach Mike Dunlap said.

Winning the NCAA Division III championship will be a much more difficult task. Division III independent UC San Diego (11-4), the West region’s defending champion, already has defeated the Kingsmen twice this season.

“They’re the standard on the West Coast as far as Division III goes,” Dunlap said. “All roads lead through San Diego for whoever wins our conference.”

NAME GAME

The Northridge athletic program is promoting itself by featuring in its publications prominent Northridge alumni, including singer Paula Abdul, Olympic track sprint champion Florence Griffith Joyner, sportscaster Dick Enberg and the late Lyman Bostock, a former major league All-Star.

Ron Twersky and staff writers Theresa Munoz, John Ortega and Wendy Witherspoon contributed to this notebook.