News Scrapbook 1986-1988

USD makes 'name' in loss By Kirk Kenney Tribune Sportswriter regarded Auburn before finally losing in the closing sec- onds 62-61 yesterday in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional.

I NDIANAPOLIS - Perhaps this Midwestern town's main newspaper and newspapers across the country now know who the USD Toreros are. And thel.I' coach. 1 d. In a preview of the USD-AubjlJll game, the n 1anapo- lis Star listed Smokey Games..as the Toreros coach. ~nd a TV announcer kept referring to some coach named Jack Egan." . . "I just want to bring out one point for the In~1an~polis Star," USD coach Hank Egan said. "Smokey Games IS not the coach of this team. "I'm really proud of these kids and the way thef per- fonned all year. So when you write your s~ry, ~f iou could put me in as the coach, I'd really apprec1~te 1!. Egan's remarks came after his Toreros !mp~nted their name on a few basketball minds by rattling highly

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Unlike Xavier and Austin Pe~y, USD was unable to pull off a major upsel But the little-known school fr~m San Diego left the Hoosier Dome crowd of 29,610 with something to think about. "The gap between us and the powerhouse schools has really come down," seven-foot c~nter Scott Th~mpson said. "Four years ago, that wasn t !he cas~. I tbmk the Auburn players probably are shaking their beads and saying, 'Who was that team?"' . Before proving that it belonged m the NCAA Tourna- ment, USD had to overcome some obstacl~: • First there was a serious case of the Jitters. Auburn streaked' to a 9--0 lead as the WCAC appeared over- matched by the SEC. Please see TOREROS, E-13 I .,-._,, _ __,

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454)

AR 16 1987

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/ ~~'}1f!~~"~'~!::;~!" ~!,!?.~:~~.!. ,, Landmark Thrift and Loan and its holding company, Olympian Bancorp. In his new position, Kasperick will oversee the finance, accounting and loan

servicing departments. Kasperick joined Land- mark in 1986 after serving two years with the San Diego office of Price Waterhouse. At Price Waterhouse, Kasperick served as an auditor with client assigments ranging from interna- tional SEC companies w local development stage companies in the financial, retail, real estate, manufacturing, and government con- tracting industries. Kasperick received a bachelor of science de- gree in accounting from the -uruversig of San .Qiego and is a certified public accoun nc:-~ Dennis J. Moran has been appointed assist- ant director at UCSD Medical Center. Moran will direct the r.rnter'c respiratory therapy, physical and occupat;onal therapy and audiolo- gy programs. He will also be responsible for the neuropsych()Jogical and language rehabili- tation center, i_n~us~rial health programs and

AUBURN'S JEfF MOORE AND 1'OREROS' NILS MADDEN FIGHT FOR REBOUND

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VINCENT J. KASPER:?a(CK

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (Cir. D. 127,454)

the band re!lhb1htat10n center. Moran was for- merl_y seni01 vice president of planning and marketing at St. Joseph M cal Cenfer in Stamford, Conn.

MAR 131 87

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•Toreros---+- 1 --------=-------- co,,tioued From E-1 one of those." Looking back, the Toreros could berate themselves for some lost opportunities.

"We had to get the ants out of our pants," Thompson said. "It's not every day we get 40,000 people in the USO Sports Center. It isn't every 25 years." • USD also had to overcome the absence of Thompson with foul trouble. Less than four minutes into the game, Thompson went to the bench with two fouls and his team trailing 11-4. A strange thing then happened to USD on its way to being buried. The Toreros kicked open the coffin, began hitting three pointers, ran off 12 straight points en route to a 33-28 halftime lead, controlled the tempo and came down to the end of the game with a chance to win against Auburn's far superior athletes. All the while Smokey Gaines or Jack Egan or whoever that guy was over on the bench was coaching the socks off his Auburn counterpart, Sonny Smith. In the end, a double-dribble call against sure-handed guard Paul Leonard left USD two points shy of advanc- ing to face Indiana (a 92-58 winner over Fairfield) in tomorrow's second round. Let's recreate the dramatic ending. USD forward Nils Madden buried one of two free throws with 12 seconds left to bring the Toreros within two at 62-60. Guard Danny Means stole an Auburn re- bound following Madden's missed second shot and was fouled attempting a 25-footer with six seconds left. Means, who bad kept USO in the game with his long- range shooting, hit the first shot to make it 62-61, but he missed the second. Auburn's Frank Ford grabbed the rebound and was Immediately fouled by Leonard. Ford kept the suspense going right to the end by missing his first free throw. Mark Manor swept the rebound down and quickly passed to Leonard, who drove frantically toward the hoop with time running down. Four . . three ... two ... With one second left, Leonard was called for a double- dribble just as he was about to launch a final burst toward the hoop. The refs ruled Leonard carried the ball on his hip. 1 'No, I didn't think he double-dribbled, but I am not objective," Egan said. "It was a heck of a call to make at the end of a game. I hope at some point in my life I get

Means, who led his team with 18 points, wanted that last free throw back. "I threw up a brick," be said. The Toreros as a team wanted the second half back. After leading by as many as seven points in the second half, the Toreros managed to score just four points (one basket, two free throws) in the last 6:23. And in the game's final minute, Auburn gave USD three chances. Each time the Toreros came up a little short - once on the double-dribble and twice on missed free throws. And USD committed 10 turnovers in the second half after turning the ball over just twice in the first half. Still, the lingering impressions of this game will be nothing but positive. Impressions of ... • Thompson dominating inside and scoring all 14 of his points in the second half after being held scoreless in the first half because of foul trouble. • Means, Leonard and Manor bitting long jumpers to give USO an eight-point lead at one point in the first half with Thompson on the bench. • The Toreros befuddling a superior team with a tough zone defense and some sharp ballbandling on offense. "San Diego is an outstanding defensive ballclub," said Smith, who seemed to realize bis team had been out- foxed, if not outscored. Auburn seemed uninspired for much of the game. How- ever, the Tigers found consistency in their rebounding (43-30 edge) and in the play of sophomore forward Mike Jones (24 points). Said Means: "I thought our concentration kind of dropped a little the last six minutes. I don't think it was because we were tired; it was because we got a little excited because we were leading at that point of the game. "Personally, we didn't think they could shoot well enough to come back. We just got a little careless and it cost us." It cost USD (24-6) a chance to continue the best season in the school's history. But it didn't cost the school any respect. Or coach Hank - don't call him Smokey - Egan.

PAUL LEONARD OF USD PROTECTS THE BALL FROM AUBURN DEFENDERS