Vanguard Men Face Test of Quality, Quantity of Play

Although the Southern California College men’s basketball team is on a roll, winning eight of its last 10 games, the Vanguards will get a big test in the next 10 days.

After playing in the UC San Diego tournament Friday and Saturday, SCC opens conference play against two of the nation’s top-ranked NAIA teams.

“I guess we’ll see how smart a move that was by our schedule-maker,” SCC Coach Bill Reynolds joked.

The Vanguards begin Golden State Athletic Conference play Tuesday, hosting eighth-ranked Azusa Pacific (14-3), and on Jan. 17 SCC plays at 11th-ranked Biola (14-1).

“I’m confident we’ll be able to compete with them,” Reynolds said. “But Azusa has so much depth. Their top 10 players don’t drop off a heartbeat in talent level.”

Just look at the scoreboard. On Dec. 19, Azusa Pacific defeated Christian Heritage, 106-75. Wednesday, SCC (9-6) lost to Christian Heritage in overtime, 84-82.

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Players of the week: SCC’s Adam Dzierzynski and Kristi Wright were selected Golden State Athletic Conference basketball players of the week.

Dzierzynski, a senior from Santa Margarita High, led SCC past Pacific Christian, Lake Forest (Ill.), and Midland Lutheran (Neb.). He averaged 19 points and eight assists and shot 63% from the field last week. He leads the conference in assists (6.2 per game).

Wright, a 5-foot-11 junior from Apple Valley, averaged 16 points and six rebounds to help SCC win three games, including two in its tournament. Wright shot 53% from the field.

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More honors: Chapman punter Matt George was selected to the second-team Hewlett-Packard NCAA Division III All-America and third-team All-America by Football Gazette.

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Stat corner: Center Heather Carll moved into fourth place on the Concordia women’s basketball all-time scoring list (1,034 points) last week, earning MVP honors and leading Concordia to the Eagle Invitational tournament title.

Carll is averaging 15 points and leads the Golden State Athletic Conference in rebounding (10.8 per game). SCC men’s forward Terence Wilborn leads the conference in rebounding (9.5).

The Chapman men are ranked fifth in the nation in three-pointers per game, making 9.9. Freshman Tim Werdel, from Santa Ana Valley High, is 12th in free-throw shooting at 93% (25 of 27).

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Sick leave: The Chapman women’s basketball team looked sluggish in a 68-57 loss to Willamette (Ore.) in the first round of the Whittier tournament last weekend. But there was good reason.

After the game, starting guard Elizabeth Zanolli was hospitalized for dehydration and the flu. Zanolli and leading scorer Lyndsay Brown sat out the next game with the flu, but both should recover to play this week.

Chapman (11-3), which won five of six games during that recent eight-day stretch, defeated Claremont Wednesday, 66-63, and plays at Pomona Pitzer today before returning home to face Occidental, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.