COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : UC Riverside Defeats Cal State L.A.

Former pro football running back Henry Dyer draws from his experience playing for legendary coaches George Allen and Vince Lombardi in coaching the Cal State Los Angeles men’s basketball team.

Those philosophies have propelled Cal State L.A. to its best start in 12 seasons. The Golden Eagles, however, ran into a setback in their bid for their first conference title since 1960, losing to UC Riverside in a California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game at home Thursday night, 82-79.

“It’s like trying to make it to the Super Bowl,” said Dyer, a fourth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1966. “It’s a lot harder to win in conference. Everybody is putting all their money into each game and using only their best players.”

One of Dyer’s best players, Tony McGee, was slowed by a sprained ankle. McGee, a senior transfer from Cal State Long Beach who is the leading scorer in the conference, had a team-high 18 points and seven assists, but the 6-foot-8 center’s presence was sorely missed down the stretch.

“Tony’s really hurt right now,” said forward Mark Greene, who had 12 points and eight rebounds for Cal State L.A. “There’s no way we’re going to lose at Riverside when he’s back to normal.”

Trailing 78-72 with 1:45 to play, the Golden Eagles, who rallied for last-minute victories over Chapman and Cal State Dominguez Hills in their first two conference games, closed to three points twice in the final minute.

Lorenzo Ball made a layup and a free throw to bring the Golden Eagles to 78-75 with 38 seconds to play, and Marcus Williams sank a 19-foot jump shot with 10 seconds left to cut the deficit to 82-79.

The Highlanders, however, who made four consecutive free throws in the final minute, ran out the clock to preserve the victory.

Williams had 15 points and seven assists. Ijumaa Armstrong and Ball scored 11 each for Cal State L.A.

After trailing 40-37 at halftime and by five points early in the second half, the Golden Eagles scored 10 consecutive points to open a 57-51 lead with 11:39 to play on a seven-foot jump shot by Armstrong.

Charles Purdom, who had 18 first-half points and finished with a game-high 28 points for Riverside, made two free throws to cut the deficit to 61-60. The Highlanders went ahead, 65-64, on a jump shot by Kevin Anderson with 6:36 left.

“We got in a rush to get things back in a hurry and we kind of panicked because we were slipping,” Greene said. “That’s what sealed it.”

UC RIVERSIDE--Purdom 28, Anderson 15, Pugh 12, Hantgin 10, Gipson 9, Sabbara 8.

CAL STATE L.A.--McGee 18, Williams 15, Greene 12, Armstrong 11, Ball 11, Knowles 9, Titus 3.

Records: UC Riverside 11-4; Cal State L.A. 10-3.

WOMEN’S GAMES

Cal Poly Pomona 86, Cal State L.A. 47--The Cal State Los Angeles women’s basketball team wasn’t intimidated going into their game Thursday night against 11-time defending California Collegiate Athletic Assn. champion Cal Poly Pomona. But they were disappointed coming out of the game.

Cal Poly Pomona has won 39 of the last 40 games between the two schools, and their domination continued with last week’s 86-47 victory in a conference opener at Cal State L.A.

“We knew about their record and achievements, but we were confident we could beat them,” Cal State L.A. junior guard Cameron Inouye said. “We just tried to rush things too much in the beginning.”

Cal State L.A. came within two points of knocking off Pomona last season and holds the distinction of handing the Broncos one of only six conference losses in 18 seasons, defeating Pomona in 1987. But the Golden Eagles never came close Thursday.

Cal State L.A., which trailed 41-15 at halftime, had made only four of 22 shots in the first half and was out-rebounded 47-28 in the game.

The Golden Eagles committed 27 turnovers, fell behind 16-5 in the first six minutes and went scoreless for nearly nine minutes as Cal Poly Pomona ran off 19 consecutive points to increase its lead to 35-7.

Despite scoring 10 of the first 14 points in the second half and going on a 10-2 run in the final four minutes, the Golden Eagles never got closer than 19 points thereafter.

“Pomona didn’t beat us as much as we hurt ourselves by missing easy shots,” Cal State L.A. Coach Marcia Murota said. “We just shot bad.”

Pamm Ross had a team-high 12 points and Hollie Keeton and Brandee Benson scored eight each for Cal State L.A.

CAL POLY POMONA--Conston 21, Harney 19, Hiestand 14, Casteneda 11, Miles 7, Houston 4, Brown 4, Holden 4, Kerzie 2.

CAL STATE L.A.--Ross 12, Benson 8, Keeton 8, Inouye 6, Corona 3, Doesberg 3, Velasco 2, Nwamuo 2, Cruz 2, Wilbers 1.

Records: Cal Poly Pomona 13-1; Cal State L.A. 3-11.

Los Angeles Trade Tech 88, Long Beach City College 63--Trade Tech forward Erica Stinson pulled off an impressive double-double, scoring 23 points and grabbing 24 rebounds to spur the Lady Techsters to an easy South Coast Conference victory Wednesday night.

After Long Beach took a 23-20 lead, Trade Tech closed out the first half with a 22-3 run to go up 42-26 at halftime.

Porchia Brown and Rhonda Givens each scored 15 points for the Lady Techsters as Trade Tech continued to capitalize on Viking turnovers to take a commanding 62-31 lead with 11:21 left in the game.

LONG BEACH CITY--Young 17, Wilson 16, French 11, Gomez 9, Dunn 8, Cannon 2.

LA TRADE TECH--Stinson 23, Brown 15, Givens 15, Bryant 9, Bell 8, Conde 8, Martinez 5, Hardy 3, Gentle 2.

Records: Trade Tech 13-6; Long Beach 4-10.