December 2008 Archives
won a game without senior standout Larry Gordon. In fact coach Greg
Kamansky couldn't remember the last time.
But the Broncos did that, cruising past visiting NAIA opponent
Southwestern (Kan.) 73-39 Monday at Kellogg Gymnasium in the final
nonconference tuneup.
Gordon, a first-team all conference selection the last two years,
scored just 12 points and took only eight shots but others picked up
the slack. Walter Thompson tallied a team-high 14 and Austin Swift
was next with 13. All 10 players that dressed figured in the scoring.
``It didn't happen that was on purpose,'' Thompson said of
Gordon's more limited role. ``We're just an unselfish team. We look
for the open man and other guys were hitting some shots.''
The game may have ended up a blowout, but it didn't start out that
way. Both teams played like they were still on Christmas vacation in
the first half. The visitors went out to a 5-0 lead on a 3-pointer by
Marcus Batiste and a pair of free throws by Tim Moore just 45 seconds
into the game.
But the Moundbuilders then went 10 minutes and 20 seconds without
scoring, going 0-for-10 with seven turnovers in that stretch. An
inside bucket by 6-10 center David King snapped the dought but the
Broncos (5-2) hardly blew the game open in the meantime.
That bucket only made it 17-7 and Southwestern got back to within
three at 25-22 with 1:40 left in the half. A 3-pointer by Jimmy
Miyasaka and a baseline jumper by Dwayne Fells gave the Broncos a
30-22 lead at the half.
It wasn't until the second half that the Broncos turned the game
into a rout. Thompson chalked up eight in a 16-4 Cal Poly run to
start the second half, punctuated by a 3-pointer that made it 46-26.
``The first half we just didn't shoot well,'' Kamansky said. ``It's
not that we didn't play hard. With this team it's that simple. That's
our style of play aznd we play good defense. We just shoot ourselves
in the foot sometimes.''
The Broncos shot 45.2 percent (28-for-62) for the game but were
just 31.3 percent (10-for-32) in the first half. They finished with a
44-28 advantage on the boards with Gordon and Tobias Jahn snagging
nine rebounds each. Swift and Dahir Nasser had four assists each.
The Moundbuilders managed just 29.1 percent (16-for-55) and had 18
turnovers.
It was the Broncos best defensive effort since they held San
Francisco State to 37 in 2001, Kamansky's first season. It was also
just the third time a foe has been held under 40 since 1961 when
records were kevpt.
``It was good to come back and have a game like that to shake off
the rust before we go back to conference play,'' he said. ``We're not
going to have any more games like that.''
The Broncos resume CCAA play Friday, hosting Chico State at 7:30
p.m. Cal State Stanislaus then comes in for a Saturday game.
The Cal Poly Pomona women's basketball team went all of last season without stringing together more than two victories. So coach Scott Davis is thrilled with his team's most recent showing.
Sophomore guard Reyana Colson scored 14 points and snagged 10 rebounds and five steals to lead the Broncos to a 56-53 win over visiting Northwest Nazarene Saturday at Kellog Gymnasium.
It was the fourth in a row after a 2-5 start.
"It feels because we didn't win that many in a row last year," said Colson, named tournament most valuable player. "It's nice to get a streak started going back into conference play."
It was a competitive, although not necessarily well played game by either team. The Broncos won despite shooting 33.9 percent from the field (20-for-59) while the Crusaders managed 37.8 percent (17-for-45). The teams also combined for 42 turnovers.
Not surprisingly, Davis was most pleased with his team's defense which contibuted to the Crusaders' woes.
"We made everything difficult for them," he said. "That's a very good team so it was a good win for us."
The first half feature eight ties and seven lead changes and ended with the Broncos up 27-27.
The Broncos led by as many as eight in the second half, the last time coming a 36-28.
The Crusaders stayed in striking distance and finally took its first lead of the half when Brittney Roggenkamp drained a 3-pointer to give her team a 42-41 lead with 7:48 to go. It was tight the rest of the way.
The game was even for the last time at 51 with 2:29 left. The Broncos went back in front seconds later when Stephisha Walton, 0-for-9 from the field at that point, scored inside and converted a free throw for a 54-51 edge.
Cal Poly got some breathing room on a bucket by Ally Smith off the inbounds pass from Walton to go up 56-52 with a minute left and the Broncos never looked back.
Colson was joined in double figures by Smith (13) and Megan Ford (11).
Northwest Nazarene got 15 from Lindsay Brady, who fouled out with 3:57 left and the score tied at 49.
Colson, who had 26 points and seven assists in Cal Poly's win Friday over Western Oregeon, was joined on the all-tournament team by Ford, Brady, Roggenkamp and Katie Torland of Western Oregon.
In the other game of the day Western Oregon (5-5) beat Cal State Los Angeles 76-63. Former San Bernardino Valley standout Shy Walter had 14 points, four rebounds and a blocked shot for the Eagles (1-8)
.
Junior center Brandon Brown scored 19 points and collected 12 rebounds and three blocks to lead Cal State San Bernardino to a 96-54 win over San Francisco Academy of the Art Sunday in the CCAA-Pac West Challenge at Valley High School in Las Vegas.
The New Orleans native was solid in his debut weekend. In Saturday's loss to Grand Canyon he tallied 21 points, 13 boards and four blocks.
"He definitely gives us a presence down low that we didn't have before," coach Jeff Oliver said. "He was the bright spot for us. No doubt."
The Coyotes (3-5) shot 54 percent (34-of-62) from the field, including a 14-for-29 from 3-point range.
Reggie Brown added 18 points, making six of his nine long distance shots. Tim Denson added 18 points while Devin Montgomery and Lawrence Tyson chipped in with 13 points each.
Tyson also collected seven rebounds and four assists while DuBois Williams contributed six rebounds and 10 of the Coyotes 26 assists.
It was a season-high in the scoring column and also marked the fewest points allowed.
The Coyotes finished with a 42-33 edge on the boards and cut their turnovers down to 15. They also hit 14 of 20 free throws, an improvement of 14-for-28 the previous night.
"It was a little better. We shared the ball better and looked for each other and it's the first time we outrebounded anyone," Oliver said. "But we still didn't execute all that well at times. But it's some progress.
The Urban Knights (0-11) shot just 32 percent (21-for-61) from the field. Sophomore point guard Weleh Dennis led them with 18 points.
The Coyotes are off until Jan 2 when they resume CCAA play with a 7:30 p.m. game against Cal State Stanislaus at Coussoulis Arena.
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The Cal State State San Bernardino men's basketball team dropped its fifth game in seven tries, this time falling to Grand Canyon 76-71 Saturday at Valley High School in Las Vegas.
Cal State shot 52 percent from the field while Grand Canyon shot just 37 percent and rebounds were even at 37-all. But the Coyotes had 20 turnovers and hit just 14 of 28 free throws while the Antelopes (4-4) hit 21 of 27 tries from the stripe.
"We continue to find new ways to lose," Cal State coach Jeff Oliver said. "We did show a little more fight and I was pleased with that. We still just haven't put it all together."
The bright spot was the play of junior forward Brandon Brown who tallied 23 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in his Cal State debut.
"He played well. We just have to have some other guys jump on board," Oliver added.
The only other player in double figures was Lawrence Tyson who had 18 with five assists. DuBois Williams had six points and 11 rebounds.
Leading scorer Devin Montgomery was held to seven and second-leading scorer Tim Denson managed just two.
The Coyotes will play San Francisco Academy of the Arts (0-10) Sunday in Las Vegas.
Staff Writer
POMONA - Cal Poly Pomona sophomore guard Reyana Colson admits she still isn't 100 percent healthy. That is bad news for Bronco opponents.
Colson scored a career-high 26 points and dished out seven assists and two steals to lead Cal Poly to a 77-57 win over Western Oregon in the opening game of the Bronco Invitational Friday at Kellogg Gymnasium.
Colson, the team's second-leading scorer last year as a freshman, missed the first five games this season with tendonitis in her knee, then played limited minutes in her first two back. She has scored 66 points in the three games since then.
``I thought we played pretty well without her but we're so much better with her,'' coach Scott Davis said. ``Now we have everyone back in the right position. She is the one that makes us go.''
Playing through the injury was not an option. Davis said Colson is one of the gutsiest players on the team. So when she said the pain had gotten unbearable, he didn't hesitate sitting her out.
The Compton native said she is probably ``85 to 90 percent healthy'' but is still working her way into playing shape.
``The knee isn't hurting near as bad but I hadn't played in a
month so I was way out of shape,'' she said. ``I'm getting there.''
Davis expected more of a challenge but the Broncos (5-5) were never threatened. Colson scored eight of her team's first 12 points and 10 of its first 20, including a driving layup with 8:50 left in the first half that staked the Broncos to a 20-9 lead.
The biggest lead of the half was 21 points which came twice, the
last at 40-19 to end the half.
The Wolves (4-5) didn't get in legitimate striking distance. They were able to cut the deficit to 12 at 51-39 with 12:28 to play but the Broncos answered with Colson hitting a short jumper to make it 53-39, then completed a 3-point play a minute later that made it 56-41 and the rout was on.
Colson was followed in the scoring column by Stephisha Walton with 14 points. Megan Ford added 12 with seven rebounds and Unique Anderson contributed 11 with five assists. The Broncos tallied 18 assists as a team.
``I get a lot of my points in transition. That's my game,'' Colson said. ``But it's not about the points. I just want to win.''
Preseason All-America forward Larry Gordon scored a game-high 26 points for the Broncos (4-2). He shot 8-of-11 from the field and 8-of-9 from the line. He also had eight rebounds, five steals and three assists.
Joining him in double figures were Walter Thompson (12), Austin Swift (11) and Dahir Nasser (10).
The Vikings (6-2) led 47-46 four minutes into the second half but the Broncos went on a 17-3 run over the next nine minutes and led 64-49 with 7:03 to go.
The Vikings, who shot 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from the field in the second period, never got closer than nine. Western hit just 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the floor, making only 6 of 22 3-point attempts, and was just 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) at the line.
Western was led by Fontana High School product Ira Graham who tallied
17 points, two rebounds and two assists.
The Broncos shot 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from the field and
converted 17 of 20 (85.0 percent) free throws.
A rare winter storm hit Southern Nevada on Wednesday, dumping as much as seven inches of snow, the most in nearly 30 years. That grounded flights at the Las Vegas airport, and forced closure of many major highways.
Cal State Stanislaus withdrew from the tournament, which was scheduled to begin Thursday, and the Broncos were not able to get to Las Vegas until Thursday night. That meant no games for the other tourney participant, Central Washington, which had been in town since Monday.
It seems like this is going to be one of those seasons when nothing comes easy to the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team. So it isn't surprising the Broncos had to take the long route to Las Vegas.
The Broncos are competing in the Great Western Shootout today and Saturday at the Doolittle Community Center in Las Vegas. They left around 1p.m. on Wednesday, but since snow and rain closed the normal route, the I-15 North, the team had to take the I-10 East and connect with the 95 which proceeds north along the California-Arizona border.
That turned a three-hour trip into a seven-hour journey.
"Most of the guys just slept," coach Greg Kamansky said. "What else can you do?"
The Broncos' reward is a pair of games against foes picked to finish first and second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Cal Poly Pomona (3-2) will face No. 12 Central Washington (5-2) Thursday and Western Washington (6-1) on Friday. Both are set for 5 p.m.
The games are important because they will be the Broncos' lone nonconference games against NCAA Division II teams in-region and that's a major component that goes toward determining regional ranking and playoff eligibility.
Cal Poly lost to the same two foes by big margins last season.
"Obviously, winning both would be nice but we really need to win at least one," Kamansky said. "But it's not going to be easy, because they're both very good teams. We have to play better than we have to this point."
The Broncos have four games on their schedule against NAIA teams. One of those was on Monday when Kamansky's team lost to a solid Master's College squad.
The Broncos led 38-35 early in the second half before suffering a seven-minute scoring drought that cost them the game.
The good news was senior Larry Gordon looked more like the Larry Gordon of old with a season-high 20 points and 12 rebounds. Cal Poly also got a workman-like effort out of wingman Austin Swift (12 points) and a steady contribution from seldom-used walk-on Jimmy Miayaska.
"We didn't play bad, we just didn't finish," Kamansky said. "It was a winnable game. We did better but we need to keep moving forward.
Both the Wildcats and Vikings loom as formidable foes. One familiar face is the biggest offensive weapon for Western Washington -- former Fontana High School standout Ira Graham.
Graham is a two-time GNAC first-team selection. He is sixth in the GNAC in scoring (17.3 ppg) and eighth in free-throw percentage (.806).
"I always look forward to playing against them," the senior said of the Broncos. "It's always special to be able to play against one of the hometown teams."
Cal State San Bernardino men's basketball coach Jeff Oliver isn't quite sure what to do. On paper he thinks he has a talented team. But that hasn't translated to the court. The Coyotes most recent loss came 63-62 to Westmont, an NAIA team that local rival Cal Poly Pomona beat by 15.
"We lack fight and physicality and that's a huge problem," he said. "Until we get some we're not going to beat anyone. We're not fighting for loose balls, fighting for a rebound. We're just not competing."
Oliver addressed the issue before practice on Monday. He tried simplifying the offense last week after the first two California Collegiate Athletic Association games. It worked to a point. The Coyotes (2-4) held their last foe to 63.
"We were in the right position so we did better in that respect," he said. "But I never thought we'd be held to 62 points."
Oliver hasn't given up hope. All his players came from successful programs so they know what it takes to win. And the problem isn't that they're bad individuals.
"It's a great group of kids. I enjoy being around them. They're nice, maybe too nice. It isn't like a few years ago when I had knuckleheads."
The Coyotes will travel to Las Vegas for a pair of nonconference games Saturday and Sunday against Grand Canyon and Academy of Arts.
Help is on the way in the form of 6-foot-7 forward Brandon Brown, who should be eligible later this week.
Chris Jackson hit a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to give host Westmont a 63-61 win over Cal State San Bernardino in nonconference play Saturday.
The Coyotes (2-4) trailed by as many as nine but got in striking distance late with Devin Montgomery hitting a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 61-59 with 45 seconds left.
Cal State drew even following a Warrior turnover when DuBois Williams hit a pair of free throws with 36 seconds to go. Westmont (5-4) took a timeout 10 seconds later to set up a final play.
Williams had 11 and Reggie Brown nine. Montgomery, averaging 21.5 coming in, was held to eight and hit just two of 11 tries from the field as the Coyotes shot just 39.2 percent.
Westmont, which shot 46.7 percent from the field, was led by Dan Rasp with 24 point.
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Cal State San Bernardino coach Kim Cherniss has been selected Division II National Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
In her 18 years at Cal State, Cherniss has led the program to national prominence, directing the Coyotes (30-4) to their first championship match earlier this month. Cal State beat California-Pennsylvania and Truman in the Elite Eight before losing to reigning champion and tournament host Concordia-St. Paul 3-2.
The Coyotes spent four weeks atop the Coaches Poll and ended the year with a final ranking of No. 2, capturing a California Collegiate Athletic Association championship and the NCAA West Region title.
"It's a nice honor," Cherniss said. "It's not why we do what we do. The on-court success is the motivation. But it's a nice acknowledgement, especially from coaches who are going through the same thing."
During her time at Cal State San Bernardino, Cherniss has won 382 contests, and since 1996 she has been victorious in 83 percent of her matches with a 313-62 mark. The Coyotes have won six CCAA championships, including three straight, and have captured three regional titles, advancing to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 for nine consecutive years.
It is the first national honor for Cherniss. She has also been named top coach in the conference three times and best in the region on three occasions.
Cherniss will be honored at the 2008 Jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon in Omaha, Neb., Thursday in conjunction with the 2008 AVCA Annual Convention.
Basketball player Larry Gordon and volleyball standout Vanessa Williams have been named Enterprise Athletes of the Month at Cal Poly Pomona.
Gordon (Montclair HS) scored in double digits for the 32nd and 33rd straight games in wins over Vanguard and Westmont. He tallied 13 points and nine rebounds in one win and 12 points and 12 rebounds in the other.
Williams, a Riverside native, wrapped up a stellar career, leading the Broncos to second place in the CCAA and a runner-up finish at the West Region Tournament. She was named first-team all-conference and all-region and was a second-team All-America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Cal State San Bernardino's women's volleyball team, the almost-conquering heroes returned to the campus Monday and were honored as heroes by students, faculty and staff in a noontime rally in the San Manuel Student Union.
University
The few hundred fans and friends in attendance on the first day of Fall Quarter finals week cheered as Head Coach Kim Cherniss led the team into the lobby of the Student Union.
"I can't tell you what it meant to all of us to have you guys supporting us the way you did," Cherniss told the crowd of well-wishers. "For us to know there was so much support coming from campus really helped motivate us even more. I can't imagine another university that supports its teams the way this campus does."
The Coyotes lost 3-2 in the title match to tournament host Concordia-St. Paul to finish the season at 30-4 as the No. 2 team in Division II with a third NCAA West Region title and a sixth California Collegiate Athletic Association championship in hand.
The team made the Final Four for the second time in the history of the program and its appearance in the title match was an historic first for the program and only the second team a CSUSB team has played in the national title contest. The 1993-94 women's basketball team lost in the title game to
Senior libero Meghan Haas, who set a new CSUSB career digs record with 1,566 by digging 57 attacks in the three matches at the tournament, spoke on behalf of her teammates and repeated Cherniss' comments about support from the home front.
"It was an almost perfect season," Haas told the audience. "We knew you were all watching. We got all those text messages everyone sent. We got them all. Your support was amazing. We want to say 'thank you' to everyone. We couldn't have done it without you. Next year we'll win it for you."
Dr. Karnig congratulated those in attendance for being "such strong supporters of the team and their success."
"I can't say enough about Coach Kim Cherniss. She has been very successful in so many ways and this team of hers is really, really special."
Vice President Aguilar said the team's success is all the more amazing given the student athlete's time commitment to competing in the sport and being able to manage time in such a way as they continue to make academic progress toward a degree.
He also thanked the fans. "Your support of the pgoram and your attendance at matches helped make the success the team enjoyed possible."
Aguilar and Hatcher delineated the accomplishments of the volleyball program over the past nine years:
n Six CCAA conference championships
n Three West Regional championships
n Nine straight 'sweet 16s'
n Two Final Fours
n One NCAA title appearance.
"And, we're not done yet," said Cherniss.
San Bernardino, becoming the school's all-time career leader in digs.
Haas chalked up 57 in the Coyotes three matches at the Division II
national tournament at Concordia-St. Paul last weekend to give her
1566 for her career. That total bested the 1,543 of All-American Kim
Ford who played from 2000-2003.
Haas, of Menifee, only played three years having spent her freshman
year at Division I Louisiana Tech. Ford played four years.
Haas actually surpassed Ford's record in the Coyotes 3-0 semifinal
win over Truman Friday, than added to it in the 3-2 loss to the host
team in the championship showdown.
"She does many, many things that delight me. I don't think there's
anything she can't do on the court," said veteran coach Kim Cherniss,
who also called
Haas the best defensive player who has ever competed at the school.
Haas was a first-team All-CCAA and West Region selection. She was
given honorable mention All-American by the American Volleyball
Coaches Association.
The Coyotes finished 30-4, hitting the 30-win plateau for the first
time in school history.
