Azusa Pacific Is Enticing Foe for SCC

Azusa Pacific’s rise to the top of the NAIA Division I men’s basketball poll this week makes the matchup between Southern California College and the Cougars Saturday at SCC more enticing.

As if it needed a boost.

Last month, the last time the two teams met, Azusa Pacific escaped with a 111-109 victory after the Vanguards cut Azusa’s lead from eight points to one in the last several minutes.

“That was one of the best college games, certainly small college games, I’ve ever seen,” said Nick Dawson, Azusa Pacific’s sports information director.

Azusa Pacific (20-2, 6-0 in the Golden State Athletic Conference) has won its last 11 games and has only lost this season to Cal State Bakersfield, the undefeated and top-ranked NCAA Division II team in the nation, and Division I Washington State.

But Azusa Pacific hasn’t yet braved “The Pit,” SCC’s pint-sized gymnasium, where the Cougars haven’t won since the 1983-84 season.

“I think this game will be a good one at least for the potential for electricity,” SCC Coach Bill Reynolds said.

Southern California College (14-8, 4-2) is alone in second place in the conference, but Reynolds was unhappy with the way the Vanguards played Tuesday in a 95-90 double overtime victory over Point Loma Nazarene.

“Azusa’s got a good ballclub but it’s been proven that they are beatable,” Reynolds said. “Teams in our conference have been coming close.

“But if we play like we did (Tuesday) night, they’ll beat us by as much as Long Beach State did. Hopefully, we got that out of our system.”

For the record, Long Beach beat the Vanguards, 92-62, in December.

Azusa Pacific is paced by three 6-foot-8 transfers, Ronnie Winbush, a forward from Cal State Long Beach; Bob Terry, a forward from Fullerton College who played at Brea-Olinda High School, and Paul White, a center from State champion Cerritos College.

The Cougars also have two solid guards in Earic Peters, a 6-4 point guard who is third in the NAIA District 3 in three-point shooting percentage (46%), and Scott Day, who has made 42% of his three-pointers.

Southern California College’s tallest starter usually is Mike West, a 6-3 forward who nevertheless leads the district in rebounding with an average of 11.1. West leads the Vanguards in scoring at 17.3. Point guard Danin Bryant, a 5-9 junior, leads the district in assists with an average of almost eight.

“They are the toughest players that we have, even though one is a diminutive point guard and one is a diminutive forward,” Reynolds said.

History lesson: This isn’t won’t be the first time the Vanguards have played the nation’s top-ranked NAIA team. In 1982, during Reynolds’ first season, they played then-No. 1 Biola--and lost, 64-61. Biola went through that regular season undefeated and advanced to the NAIA title before losing its only game of the season, finishing 39-1.

Moving on up: The Christ College Irvine women’s basketball team, in the midst of an school-record 11-game winning steak, finally broke into the NAIA Top 25 this week. The Eagles, ranked 25th, are the first team in school history to receive a national ranking.

“It’s real exciting,” CCI Coach Kent Schlichtemeier said. “This season we’ve done a couple of firsts. We’ve won 11 straight and we’ve finally cracked the Top 25, but we’re well-focused on our goals.”

The most pressing goal is to beat Fresno Pacific in Fresno, which the Eagles have never done. CCI (20-4, 6-0 in the Golden State Athletic Conference) will play at Fresno Pacific (15-6, 5-1) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Notes

Christ College Irvine will open its baseball season under first-year Coach Jackie Schniepp by playing a doubleheader--against two teams. The Eagles will play at Occidental at 10:30 a.m. and at Pomona-Pitzer at 2 p.m. The CCI home opener is Tuesday against Cal State Dominguez Hills. . . . SCC, which opened its baseball season Thursday with a 2-1 loss in 11 innings to Cal State Dominguez Hills, will play at La Verne Tuesday and will play host to Biola Thursday. . . . Chapman, which lost 8-2 to St. Mary’s Thursday, continues the four-game series with a game today at 2 p.m. at Hart Park and a doubleheader at noon Saturday. . . .The Chapman men’s basketball team will play host to UC Riverside at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.