Concordia’s Home Court Includes Hazelwood

Seeing Concordia forward Brian Hazelwood down on the hardwood is usually not cause for alarm.

Concordia Coach Greg Marshall has seen Hazelwood go scrambling after the ball plenty of times in Hazelwood’s four years as a starter. Hazelwood, who played strong safety on his high school football team, has a similar image on the court.

So when Hazelwood fell hard in the second half of Tuesday’s game against Pomona-Pitzer, Marshall wasn’t worried at first.

“It seems like he’s always on the floor for some reason or another,” Marshall said. “We were waiting for him to hop up. When he didn’t, we were really concerned for a while there.”

Hazelwood, who was entangled with a Pomona-Pitzer player while going for a rebound and landed directly on his hip, knew it wasn’t a routine fall.

“I remember just lying there and the pain that I felt,” Hazelwood said. “I have taken harder hits in football, but I’ve never experienced that amount of pain.

“I really couldn’t feel my legs. I thought that it was going to be the last game I would play.”

As a precaution, Hazelwood was taken off the court on a back board and paramedics were summoned to take him to Irvine Medical Center. He was released from the hospital that night after being told he had suffered a bad bruise and strained muscles in his back.

Later that night, Marshall got a telephone call from Hazelwood.

“The first thing he said was, ‘What time is practice tomorrow?’ ” Marshall said.

Of course, that was a joke. We think.

Hazelwood says he is sore but can walk--slowly--and has been told to sit out of practice for several days. He hopes to play in the Eagles’ game Saturday against Occidental.

“I’m going to do my best (to play),” Hazelwood said. “This is my last year, so I want to get in as much as I can. I’ll see how it feels (today). As of now, I’m going to play Saturday.”

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Hazelwood, a 6-foot-4 forward who is averaging 10.1 points and 6.9 rebounds, has been the Eagles’ most consistent player and is one of the main reasons they are 9-5 entering the final game before Golden State Athletic Conference play opens Tuesday at Fresno Pacific.

But Hazelwood says he is still trying to shake a bad reputation.

“I still feel I have to prove something to some of the other coaches,” he said. “My first couple of years here I took it to extremes to play aggressively, and I’ve been kind of labeled as being a dirty player. It kind of aggravates me.

“I’m trying to break the mold and just play hard.”

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At the hoedown: Hazelwood’s injury might prove damaging to an accidental country dance career.

It all started when he and his girlfriend, Deanne Robuck, were swing dancing at a Lake Forest country bar and they were approached by a man who asked if they would like to dance in Stanford Stadium before an exhibition soccer match between the U.S. national team and Germany.

They were skeptical.

“This is a bar and you think, ‘This guy has had too much to drink,’ ” Hazelwood said.

But the talent scout turned out to be sober, and Hazelwood and Robuck performed before the game, in front of a crowd that would eventually grow to 52,397.

Now, they have been invited to perform during a dinner for the U.S. team in Mission Viejo Jan. 12, and there is the possibility of dancing during the World Cup this summer.

“From what I understand--and again this is one of those skeptical things--they want us to perform in some of the halftime shows in the games around here,” Hazelwood said.

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The Chapman men’s basketball team will be tested tonight by Redlands, the NCAA Division III version of Loyola Marymount circa 1990.

The Bulldogs, who regularly lead Division III in scoring, are averaging 101.9 points. But they are giving up 97.1 and have lost five in a row after a 4-0 start.

One of those losses was to Chapman--106-101--on Dec. 10 at the Hutton Center. Tonight the Panthers (7-4) play at Redlands.

Notes

Division III schools are scheduled to rule on Chapman’s application to switch from Division II (Division I in baseball) to Division III next week at the NCAA Convention in San Antonio. Chapman President James Doti and Athletic Director Dave Currey will be on hand for the vote. . . . The Golden State Athletic Conference is starting men’s and women’s basketball play Tuesday. Southern California College is playing host to Azusa Pacific and Concordia is playing at Fresno Pacific. The women’s games start at 5:30 p.m.; the men at 7:30.