men's basketball: February 2008 Archives
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
One can excuse Cal State San Bernardino men’s basketball coach Jeff Oliver for looking for a positive omen as his team heads into the most important game of the season.
The Coyotes (21-5, 14-4) will play at Humboldt State (18-7, 13-5) Thursday with a win over the defending champions giving the Coyotes their seventh CCAA title in nine years.
Because of the importance of the game and the 700-mile distance, the Coyotes left Tuesday - a day earlier than is typical. But a series of delays resulted in the team not arriving until noon Wednesday, not much earlier than the women’s team which left Wednesday and bussed to Oakland.
Oliver tried to take the delay in stride.
“We’re staying in the same hotel and I have the same room that I did last year when we won the West Region here,” Oliver said. “That has to be a good sign.”
The men’s team had a 7:30 p.m. flight out of LAX Tuesday. It was delayed a half hour. Then, after it did leave, had to return to Los Angeles after an emergency light went on.
The problem couldn’t be fixed and another flight was not available so the team ended up checking into a hotel after midnight.
Wednesday morning all went well until it came time to land in Arcata, located on the coast about 50 miles from the Oregon border. Heavy fog made it necessary to circle for more than an hour before finally landing.
Such are the problems when playing a school so remotely located.
The week won’t get any easier. After the tonight’s game the Coyotes will charter a bus and make a 230-mile trip to Rohnert Park to play Sonoma State Friday. That trip can take five hours, even if the weather is good. Oliver is hoping the team can arrive at the second destination by 2 a.m.
Cal Poly Pomona will play the teams in the opposite order. The Broncos (11-12, 10-8) flew into Oakland Wednesday. Coach Greg Kamansky said after tonight’s game with the Seawolves, his team will drive halfway, then make the other half of the trek Thursday morning.
“It is by far the worst trip,” Kamansky said. “It really isn’t safe to be doing it that late at night. And you really don’t want to have to do it the day you play. There is no easy way to do it.”
Last year the conference gave schools a day in between those games because of the hazards, not present in any of the other road trips between conference schools.
The situation was addressed at a meeting of athletic directors and the vote favored returning to the back-to-back nights. Cal Poly, Cal State and UC San Diego were the schools voting against that, citing safety concerns.
Cal State Los Angeles and Dominguez Hills were the lone South schools who voted for the back to backs.
“It’s tough no matter what you do,” said Cal State L.A. athletic director Dan Bridges. “We felt it was an unfair advantage for those teams to have a day between games.”
But those against the move acknowledge that those schools also have an advantage if their opponent has to drive five hours after a game.
So the schools are doing the best they can to deal with the scenario. The Coyotes usually transport their teams in vans but athletic director Kevin Hatcher got a charter bus at a cost of about $4,000 - four times the cost of rental vans.
Bridges said his school did the same, even putting both the men’s and women’s team on one bus.
“Cost is not an issue,” Hatcher said. “We felt this was the safest thing to do. We don’t want our coaches having to drive their teams that late after a game, especially with the possibility of adverse weather conditions. At least with a charter you have a paid, professional driver trained to deal with all situations.”
The stakes are a bit higher for the Coyotes, but the Broncos also need wins.
Cal Poly has qualified for the conference tournament but needs to finish in the top four to host a tournament quarterfinal at Kellogg Gymnasium Tuesday. They’re currently tied with three teams for fourth.
Several north schools loom as a possible opponent for the Broncos. If they don’t get to host they could be faced with having to head north again on Monday, two days after returning home from Humboldt.
If that happens the Broncos might decide to stay up north.
Despite the tough journey, Oliver expects a memorable game between teams establishing one of the top rivalries in Division II basketball.
“I expect it to be every bit like the game we played in the regional final last year,” Oliver said. “It is a great atmosphere for college basketball, one our kids will never forget. They are very passionate and knowledegable about their basketball.”
The Cal State San Bernardino men's basketball team dropped to No. 20 in this's week's NABC national ranking.
The Coyotes, who have been as high as No. 4, were No. 18 last week but fell two places after last Friday's 63-60 loss to lowly Chico State.
The poll is released every Tuesday.
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By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
Cal State San Bernardino senior guards Marlon Pierce and Lance Ortiz stood outside the Coyotes lockerroom Saturday after their team dismantled Cal State Stanislaus. The conversation quickly turned to their next opponent - Cal Poly Pomona.
“We can’t leave here without beating them,” Pierce said, looking over at his backcourt mate. “And this is our last chance.”
The duo has one more shot. That will come tonight when the Coyotes (19-5, 12-4) entertain the Broncos (10-11, 9-7) in a 7:30 p.m. CCAA showdown at Coussoulis Arena.
Cal Poly has won four straight meetings with the Coyotes, including a 65-62 overtime game at Kellogg Gymnasium earlier this season. The Broncos swept both in 2006-07 and won the final meeting the previous season.
Even in a down year Cal Poly has had the upper hand.
“Weird things happen in rivalries,” Pierce said. “It goes in cycles. Right now they’re getting the best of us. We need to change that.”
The Coyotes are ranked No. 20 nationally and remained No. 2 in the West Region poll released Wednesday despite their inexplicable loss to last-place Chico State Friday.
The Broncos are looking to advance to the postseason for the fifth time in six years but will need to win the conference tournament to have a chance. First they have to qualify. Coach Greg Kamansky doesn’t think that is a given even though they need just one win in their last four games to do so.
“Obviously this will be a tough one,” he said. “Then we get San Diego who we have already lost to. Then we’re on the road at Humboldt State and Sonoma. So no it isn’t a given.”
But first the Broncos must deal with their neighborhood rival. The Coyotes rank first in the conference in scoring defense (62.2) while the Broncos are last in scoring offense (64.2).
The Coyotes are fifth in scoring offense (71.8) while the Broncos are second in defense (63.3).
Coyotes coach Jeff Oliver thinks they key will be pressure, both offensively and defensively. His team needs to create offense by forcing turnovers. When the teams first played his team forced 21 but they had 17 themselves.
“We have to do pressure the ball and force turnovers but we also have to do a better job handling their press which is underrated. It is very good,” he said.
The Broncos rely on one player - junior Larry Gordon (17.8 ppg, 10 rpg) with senior guard Angelo Tsagarakis (14.9 ppg) a formidable threat from long distance.
Cal State is more balanced although Pierce (13 ppg, 4 apg, 2 spg) has been carrying the Coyotes lately. Senior center Michael Earl (13 ppg) and Ortiz (12.3 ppg, 4.5 apg) are the otyhers averaging double figures.
The women’s game will tip off at 5:30 p.m. The Coyotes (19-4, 13-3) are tied with Chico State atop the CCAA standings after a stunning win over the then-No. 13 Wildcats. That win propeled the Coyotes into the national rankings at No. 24.
The Broncos (10-12, 7-9) are also playing for a CCAA tournament berth and are seventh, just one game ahead of eighth-place Dominguez Hills. Eight of the 11 will qualify.
The Coyotes are led by senior Vanessa Wilt who leads the conference in scoring (20.9), rebounding (13.7), blocks (2.35) and field goal percentage (.584).
But the team’s success depends on its perimeter shooting. The Broncos kept Wilt in check in a 78-64 loss earlier this season but junior Rachel Johnson lit them up for a career-high 24 that included five 3-pointers.
Senior reserve guard Leslie Pickron has emerged as a threat in the last week, draining a total of 10 3-pointers in the Coyotes two games last weekend. That showing earned her conference player of the week honors.
“When they’re shooting well from the outside they’re capable of beating anybody,” Broncos coach Scott Davis said of the Coyotes. “And they have a lot of players who can shoot it from out there.Iit definitely presents a problem for us.”
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
Pity the Cal State Stanislaus men’s basketball team.
It was the Warriors with the misfortune of squaring off against an angry Cal State San Bernardino team that was embarrassed by lowly Chico State 24 hours earlier.
The Coyotes looked more like their normal selves, walloping the visiting Warriors 89-68 Saturday at Coussoulis Arena. The win put the Coyotes (19-5, 12-4) back in first place by a game over UC San Diego and Humboldt State.
Cal State coach Jeff Oliver admitted Friday’s 63-60 loss was the most disappointing in his six-year tenure. The Wildcats were last in the 11-team conference, on an 11-game losing streak, winless on the road and had beaten only two Division II teams this season.
It was a definite blow to the storied program which is less than a year removed from an appearance in the national semifinal.
“My mind still isn’t quite right,” Oliver said. “I still can’t stop playing that one through my mind. It will sit with me for quite some time. But it wasn ice to come back the way we did.”
Players were thinking about it too.
“It was real quite in the shootaround today,” senior point guard Marlon Pierce said. “It was like everyone saw a ghost. We couldn’t believe that happened.”
The host team sent a message from the opening tip, starting the game with an 8-0 run. The Coyotes also led 24-4 nine minutes into the contest after a 3-pointer by David Reichel.
The Warriors (5-18, 4-12) made a run to cut it to 10 at 27-17 but the Coyotes finished the half with a 19-4 and held a commanding 46-21 cushion at the intermission.
“The energy was key,” senior Lance Ortiz added. “We came out quickly and sent a message. Getting off to a good start helped us settle down.”
Several statistics told the story as the No. 18 Coyotes vaunted defense forced 16 turnovers and held the Warriors to 32 percent (8-for-25) shooting from the field. The visitors ended up with 25 turnovers, with the Coyotes ceasing the full-court pressure in the last 15 minutes.
The Coyotes shot 47.2 percent (17-for-36) and had 14 assists with six just turnovers. The ended up 47.1 percent (32-for-68) for the game with Ortiz tallying 17 with eight assists, Pierce 15 and seldom-used reserve Ryan Kinney chipping in with a carfeer high 12.
The Coyotes led by as many as 34 at 65-31 afer a shot by Renardo Bass with 12 minutes left. The game got a little ragged after that with both teams substituting freely. Oliver used 15 players, 11 of whom figured in the scoring.
“Today it didn’t matter who it was,” Pierce added. “It could have been San Diego, Humboldt, whoever. We were on a mission.”
The Coyotes remain at home to face local rival Cal Poly Pomona Thursday. Cal State lost to their nemesis 66-6 in overtime earlier this season.
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
At this point of the season, Cal Poly Pomona men’s basketball coach Greg Kamansky is realistic. His Broncos aren’t going to win a conference title and they aren’t likely to finish ranked in the West Region.
But they will still have some something to play for when they square off with Cal State Stanislaus and Chico State this weekend at Kellogg Gymnasium.
The Broncos (9-10, 8-6) head into play tonight against Stanislaus (4-17, 3-11) fifth in the 11-team California Collegiate Athletic Association with six games left, including three at home.
The top eight teams will make the conference tournament but the top four get to host a first-round game. That is important for the Broncos because the tournament openers will be held Tuesday and they end the regular season on the road the previous weekend far north at Humboldt State.
Winning the conference tournament is the Broncos’ only chance at a berth in the regional now.
“We’re not looking ahead,” Kamansy said. “I know the cliche and it sounds corny, but we are only thinking about one game at a time. We’re not good enough to be thinking that far ahead. We need to win this one, then worry about the next one.”
The Broncos rely on their defense, which ranks second in the conference (64 points per game). The offense has struggled, ranking last (63.9 ppg) despite having one of the conference’s premier scorers.
Junior forward Larry Gordon is still among the contenders for conference player of the year honors, although his candidacy will be hurt if the Broncos keep sinking in the standings.
The Montclair High School alum is second in the conference in scoring (17.5 ppg) and rebounding (9.8) and fourth in free-throw shooting (.838).
The only other player in double figures is senior guard Angelo Tsagarakis (15 ppg). Others have had some solid moments but have not been consistent.
The Broncos have lost three of their last four games, splitting last weekend’s road trip. The Broncos beat Cal State Los Angeles for the second time but lost to Dominguez Hills, also for the second time.
The biggest problem has been ballhandling.
“We had 16 turnovers in the first half of our last game. That isn’t acceptable,” Kamansky said. “If we solve that problem we can play with anyone but I don’t know if it’s solvable.”
The seventh-place Cal Poly women are playing for much the same thing under first-year coach Scott Davis. The Broncos (9-11, 6-8) have been stellar in wins over quality foes such as defending West Region champion UC San Diego and Sonoma State, both of whom were nationally ranked earlier this season.
They also played an outstanding half against undefeated Seattle Pacific, which is currently ranked first in the region.
But the Broncos also have an unexplainable loss one to Cal State Monterey Bay (2-19, 1-13).
Senior Vanessa Dominguez (13.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 2.2 spg) has been the Broncos’ most consistent player. Freshman Reyana Colson (11.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.9 spg) and Andrea Ohlssen (10.1 ppg) are also in double figures.
The Broncos are 10th in shooting percentage (.364) and ninth in field-goal percentage defense (.417).
Tonight’s men’s game will be simulcast on the Broncos’ athletic department Web site. The game Saturday night will not be but can be heard through the Chico State Web site.
