Coach Finds Motivation After Concordia’s Loss

After Fresno Pacific rallied to edge Concordia, 60-57, in the title game of the Golden State Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament Tuesday, Concordia players glumly watched their opponents’ celebration.

Fresno Pacific, which had earned its first berth to the NAIA national championships and denied what would have been Concordia’s first bid, cut down the nets at Whittier College and took turns holding the championship trophy.

Concordia Coach Greg Marshall used the moment to make a point: “I told our guys, ‘Take a good look at them cutting down the nets; that’s what we want to be doing next year.’ ”

For most of the game Tuesday, it seemed like a good bet to happen this year. But Fresno Pacific’s defense and physical play had taken its toll on the Eagles and the Sunbirds took control in the decisive minutes.

Fresno Pacific limited three of Concordia’s best players.

Chris Martin, who averaged 25.5 points in the first two playoff games, scored only 12, making four of 11 shots from the field.

Pharoah Jones, averaging 22 in the playoffs, scored 17, only four in the second half when Fresno Pacific denied him the ball. After making six of nine shots in the first half, he made one of three in the second.

Jeff Putnam, a 6-foot-7 center, committed his fourth foul six minutes into the second half. Foul trouble limited his effectiveness against Fresno’s 6-9 center Don Moore, who scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half. Putnam, the conference leader in rebounding in the regular season with nine, had only three, one in the second half.

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As expected, Concordia failed to receive an at-large berth when the NAIA tournament pairings were announced Wednesday. At-large spots are awarded on the basis of the NAIA national poll, and the Eagles finished the regular season one spot out of the top 25.

Concordia, which finished with a school-record 27-7, has one of the better marks in the NAIA, but five conference losses proved costly. The Eagles were ranked as high as 10th, but then lost three consecutive conference games.

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Close shave: Early in the season, Concordia’s players shaved their heads as a show of team unity and asked Marshall to join them. Marshall declined, but said he would if the Eagles won the conference tournament.

In the days before the conference final, at least a few Eagles reminded him of the pledge.

“I get to keep my hair for another year,” Marshall said. “I’ll have to promise something else next year. I was getting kind of nervous.”

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Southern California College Athletic Director Ron Prettyman, who will take over the Cal State Dominguez Hills athletic department April 3, says it is hard to leave SCC.

“Any time you spend as many years at a place as I have at SCC it’s hard to make a move like that,” said Prettyman, 39, who has been athletic director since 1983 and graduated from the school in the mid-1970s.

Prettyman started vigorously pursuing the Dominguez Hills job after Orange County declared bankruptcy in December. His wife, Carol, is a music teacher in the Los Alamitos Unified School District and for a time her job appeared to be in jeopardy.

Carol Prettyman’s teaching job no longer is threatened, but Prettyman said he owes it to himself to make the most of this opportunity.

“I’m able to make a pretty major career change without totally uprooting my family and in this business that is pretty unusual,” he said.

Prettyman said he leaves the Vanguard program in good shape. He had hoped to work toward building a new gymnasium and hiring some full-time coaches. He believes progress is being made toward the latter goal. SCC is one of only two Golden State Athletic Conference schools without any full-time coaches.

“That’s why I’m awfully proud of what we have accomplished at SCC,” Prettyman said. “It’s because we have such tremendous people.”

Notes

The Southern California College softball team was ranked seventh in the NAIA in the preseason national poll. . . . Stefan Mumaw, a senior on the Chapman men’s basketball team, was named to the NCAA Division III All-West Region second team by the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches. . . . The Chapman golf team won its first dual match in program history last Thursday, defeating Occidental, 333-352, at Tustin Ranch. Yasu Tanaka was low man for the Panthers, shooting six-over-par 78.