SCC Resuscitates Season With Consecutive Victories
It wasn’t supposed to happen to a Southern California College men’s basketball team.
In 12 previous seasons under Coach Bill Reynolds, SCC had won an average of 22 games and lost nine. Since the inception of the Golden State Athletic Conference in 1986, the Vanguards have never finished worse than second.
But by last week, they were 0-4 in the conference and not showing many signs of life.
“We weren’t thinking of second place; we were thinking about a league victory,” Reynolds said.
That victory came in a fairly unexpected place. SCC beat Concordia, 81-70, in front of a Concordia homecoming crowd of 1,100. It’s true that entering the game, SCC had a 13-1 advantage in the series between the teams, but Concordia has its strongest team and was picked to finish second in the conference in the preseason coaches’ poll.
“To say we were struggling is the understatement of the year,” Reynolds said. “But I was extremely proud of the way we played Saturday night. We were surprised that we were able to hold Concordia at Concordia.
“It was a great, great win. I guess our seniors are getting tired of being embarrassed.”
Senior point guard Danin Bryant led the way with 32 points--”Which is amazing for a non-shooting point guard,” Reynolds said. Senior wing Eric Carmichael, who is hobbled by an ankle injury he sustained in December, had 11 points and five assists. The Vanguards’ third senior, Court Bickmore, scored eight but helped the team with his aggressive, hustling play. Todd Anderson, a 6-6 junior transfer from Cerritos College, had 20 points and 14 rebounds.
SCC has been hurt by a rash of injuries and medical problems. Eric Price, a 6-5 senior community college transfer, injured his knee and is out for the season.
Scott Campbell and John Naro, expected to be the team’s main outside shooting threats, have been told by doctors that they can’t play this season.
Campbell, who averaged 15.3 points last season, has a history of heart problems and although he initially received clearance to play, doctors revoked clearance in late November. A few days later, Naro, who averaged 10.9 points last season, complained of lightheadedness and feeling his heart skip before a game in St. Louis. Doctors still haven’t determined the nature of the problem.
With the rotation reduced to seven players, SCC was worn out after the first 15 minutes of most games, but Reynolds said they seem to have found the energy to pick up the pace on defense and that has led to more transition baskets.
Tuesday, SCC won its second consecutive conference game, beating Point Loma Nazarene, 80-74, to improve to 11-11, 2-4. Freshman forward Dan Hyde scored 17 points, making all four of his three-point shots. Hyde, from Redondo Union High, had made 11 of 19 three-pointers in conference play, encouraging news for Reynolds because the Vanguards need an outside threat.
“But just as I say how encouraged we are,” Reynolds said, “we get to go to Azusa Friday, and they will probably bring us back to reality.”
Azusa Pacific (20-3, 5-1) is ranked 10th in the NAIA national poll and has won 24 consecutive home games, including victories over NCAA Division II powers UC Riverside, Cal State Bakersfield and San Francisco State.
The Cougars’ last home loss? March 3, 1992, when SCC beat them in a NAIA District 3 playoff game.
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Tuesday in Santa Barbara, Concordia discovered a soothing remedy for the frustration of Saturday’s loss to SCC when the Eagles beat Westmont.
Before Tuesday, the Eagles had never beaten Westmont--they were 0-13--but Tim Morris, a 6-9 sophomore from Troy High, made a six-footer at the buzzer to give them an 82-81 victory. “It was good from a historical standpoint,” said Concordia Coach Greg Marshall, who played and coached at Westmont. “But more importantly this year puts us back into playoff contention. Well, everybody makes the playoffs, but it allows us to compete for a home game.”
Marshall said senior point guard Darren Lax, who scored only two points before fouling out against SCC, “was just possessed out there” Tuesday.
Lax had 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists and 10 steals.
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GSAC update: With the victory, Concordia (14-8, 3-3) moved into a three-way tie for third with Westmont (12-8, 3-3) and Point Loma Nazarene (11-12, 3-3), one game behind Fresno Pacific (14-7, 4-2).
Concordia plays host to Patten in a nonconference game today and to Fresno Pacific Saturday.
In the women’s race, Fresno Pacific (15-5, 5-0) remains in first place. SCC (17-5, 3-2) and Concordia (12-8, 3-2) are tied for second with Azusa Pacific (15-7, 3-2). SCC travels to Azusa today and Concordia plays host to Fresno Saturday.