Christ College Irvine Is Leading an NBA Life, With Exceptions

Christ College Irvine men’s basketball Coach Greg Marshall counts Laker Coach Randy Pfund as one of his best friends. Now Marshall believes he has had a taste of what Pfund goes through daily.

“We’ve been playing such a tough schedule,” Marshall said. “It’s kind of like an NBA schedule, six road games in a row. “We went 3-3 and they say if you split on the road, you’re doing your job.”

Here are several stops on the Eagles’ itinerary:

--Denver. Late last month, the Eagles flew to the Mile High City for the Metro State tournament, where Pfund’s agent, Bill Bostrom, an attorney from Denver, treated the team to several perks.

“He took (the) team out to eat three times and had a luxury box for the Nuggets’ game,” Marshall said. “They played the Clippers and our guys were all yelling for the Clippers. Everyone in the stands was looking up at us telling us to stop.”

--Turlock and a return to the typical small-college mode of transportation for the Cal State Stanislaus tournament early this month. “We vanned it up to Stanislaus, seven hours,” Marshall said. “So that’s a little different than the MGM charter that the Lakers have.”

Marshall said he has upgraded Christ College’s schedule to better prepare them for its Golden State Athletic Conference games. Three of the six road games were against Division II teams.

The Eagles (4-3) lost to Metro State, 66-62, in the first round of the tournament, beat Ft. Hays (Kan.) State, 83-71, in the consolation game and lost to Cal State Stanislaus, 71-70, in the first round of the Stanislaus tournament.

Marshall said the Eagles have recovered from a series of nagging injuries and illnesses. Doug Grove, a 6-foot-4 senior, had a stress fracture in his shin; Jason Vaughan, a 6-5 senior, had a virus that limited him to two or three minutes of play a game; Agustin Heredia, a junior transfer from Orange Coast, had an injured hip that affected his shooting, and Jason Neben, a sophomore from Orange Lutheran, missed four games when he was tested for a possible heart murmur.

Home again: When CCI plays host to Chapman at 7:30 tonight, it will be the first time the Eagles have played an NCAA Division II opponent at home.

Chapman is returning from a trip of its own. The Panthers (1-4) lost narrowly to Sonoma State and UC Davis last Friday and Saturday.

Sonoma State needed a 25-foot shot by Wes Harding at the buzzer for its 74-71 victory and Davis rallied from a three-point deficit with four minutes left before winning, 74-69.

Davis took advantage of its size advantage to outrebound Chapman, 47-25, including a 24-9 offensive rebounding advantage. Chapman Coach Mike Bokosky says he hopes to improve the Panthers’ rebounding by sending all five players to the boards.

“Those are the places we’regoingto try to get a better rebounding effort,” Bokosky said. “We’re not going to be able to grow taller guys for the front line.”

But Bokosky will have one taller player available for the first time Friday. Richie Bethune, a 6-7 post player, becomes eligible that day. Bethune transferred from Southwestern College in Chula Vista last season but was not eligible because he was one class short of his Associate of Arts degree.

Because Bethune has only one semester of eligibility remaining, he took this semester off from school and hasn’t been permitted to practice with the Panthers.

“He’ll suit up and we might put him in the game,” Bokosky said. “He won’t know what he’s doing but I’ll tell him to go in and rebound.”

Notes

The Christ College Irvine men won a game by forfeit Tuesday when LIFE Bible of San Dimas couldn’t put together a full team. CCI Coach Greg Marshall said he got a call from a LIFE Bible representative at about 6 p.m. Tuesday. “He said, ‘We have four guys and we have the vans gassed up and ready, but the fifth guy’s mother just called and said he wasn’t coming.” . . . D’Andre Brown is leading CCI in scoring (19 points a game) and rebounding (eight) and Brian Hazelwood is averaging 14.3 points and six rebounds. Hazelwood is shooting 73% from the field and 82% from the free-throw line. “He’s been solid, but he’s never been this solid,” Marshall said. . . . Jeff Gardner, a 6-3 forward/guard, is leading Chapman in scoring (21) and rebounding (10). . . . The Chapman women’s team, which posted its first victory of the season Saturday--69-64 over Cal Baptist--plays host to St. Ambrose (Iowa) State at 7:30 p.m. Friday. . . . The Southern California College men’s team plays host to Biola at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.