News Scrapbook 1980-1981

•

EVENING TRIBUNE C C)

EVEN ING TRIBUNE

AZTECS, TOREROS HOOP IT UP Both teams present lineups of new fates In annual Sports Arena battle to d11,ld11 ,lty title, bragging rights for year By ICK C 'EPA Th pr d1ctablc prcgame comphment were 1s ued yesterday. n D1 go tat ba ketball Coach Dave Gaines applauded the Uni- v r 1ty of an Diego's team. cro town, U DCoach Jim Brovelll called the Aztec "extremely lmpre Iv ' So mu h for th talk San Diego tale and USO, the area' two m jor coll g ba ketball team , will meet tonight at 7-30 mthe Sports r n KF rn ra

DRIRBLI GO I

- College

basketball com into the picture this week with San Diego State and th University of San Diego offering the perfect local preview when they line up to face each other tonight at the Sports Arena. After the dwrndling attendance figures 1n Aztec football , it will be intere ting to see if Smokey Gaine , in his second year as head coach, can gain some sup- port from the . tudent body up on the Mesa. His team won on the road for the first lime at Santa Barbara over the weekend. And with Zack Jone and a couple of other good- looking newcomers to go along with Eddy Gordon and Eddie Morris, the Aztecs should be im- proving. Jim Brovelli's USD teams, meanwhile, are always well-coached and fun to watch. This one should be no exception. For whatever reason, college basketball has had some trouble catching on in San Diego. But thi is the season that could change, beginning later this month when the nation's No. 1-ranked team, DePaul, heads a glittering field in the Cabrillo Classic. If team like DePaul and Georgetown can't turn this town on to college basketball, nothing can. boun<"tn

*Aztees

CONTINUED ROM PAGE 0-1 Jones ersonally broke up a close game ~t Santa ~ar- ba'ra. Th~ 6-5 guard scored 10 of the Aztecs first 12 sec- ond-half points en route to a 17-pomt evening." . f d ''This is a big game for them," said Games. Imha ra1 I the . m1 ht be more up [or us than w_e are [or t em doJt kn~w why we haven"t done anythmg to earn that. "I think its good that we play. I'd like to play them twice a year I don't mind.' . 11 b Brovelll is~'t sure just how excited his players w1 e.

EVENING TRIBUNE

EVENING TRIBUNE

Nednesday, Dec. 3, 1980

Toreros do everything but win against Aztecs By NICK CANEPA

boards, and you can't run unless you can rebound. "And they did a good job getting back and taking the transition game away from us when we did get tbe re- bound. They hustled, got the second shots, and stayed in the ball game." The most consistent performer for the winners last night was 6-foot-9 freshman forward Michael Cage, who contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds and used his muscle to clog the middle. He also played 34 of the 40 minutes. "I thought Michael played a real good game for a freshman," added Gaines, whose team improved its record to 2-0. "He was getting tired there near the end, but he reached back and got us some key rebounds." If the Aztecs have discovered one thing in their victory over UC-Santa Barbara last week and what went on last night, it's that they can play with a lead. Gwynn, the point guard who missed the Santa Barbara game due to an eligibility problem, came back last night and played just 11 minutes. But when he gets into shape, his floor sense - he paced the Western Athletic Confer- ence in assists a year ago - will make the Aztecs even more comfortable with the ball. The 1 sers never led, but they kept things close. In the f1r t half, the Aztecs would spurt every now and then and get up by five or six, only to see the Toreros fight back. USO let it get away midway through the second half

when the Aztecs moved in front by nine. It was then that Gaines did some substituting. "I put a few fresh guys in and they turned the ball over." said Gaines. "We let 'em come back. But this is early and you're going to make mistakes. It's going to take time for us to get our timing down." Forward Eddy Gordon's 15 points paced the Aztecs, followed by Morris with 11 off the bench, and Cage and Jones with 10 each. USD, which outrebounded the winners 40-35, received 11 poin_ts each from guard Mike Stock- alper and center David Heppell, and nine rebounds and nine points from Bartholomew. "We looked good in places," said Cage, "but we made far too many mistakes. We had our chances to ice it but mistakes just killed us. The big play was that dunk by Eddy (Gordon) near the end. That fired me up, I know that." · "I think we're going to be more competitive this year," ~aid Broyelli, whose club opened its season last night. "So 1s San Diego State. We tried to keep the lid on it against them. _But they're strong and they can play a half-court game 1f they can get the ball inside to their big people." Both teams return to action tomorrow night. San Diego State h_osts I_daho State in a 7:30 game in Peterson Gym. USO will be mits gym for a 7:30 contest against UC-Santa Barbara.

A strange thing happened to the University of San Diego's basketball team last night. The Toreros did just about everythmg they wanted to do against San Diego State . , but win. !fhe Toreros forced the Aztecs to play their style. They slowed thing up, took away the fast break and got the shots they wanted. But the shots didn't fall. Not enough of them, anyway. USO managed to shoot just 32 7 percent from the floor last night and San Diego State defeated its crosstown rival 60-52 before 3,092 fans in the Sports Arena. "No question .. . we shoot well, we win the game," said Torero Coach Jim Brovelli. "But we didn't, so we lost There's no way (forward) Bob Barthomolew is going to go 4-for-17 from the floor. But he did tonight. And those were shots he usually makes. They just didn't drop." The Aztecs' lead was 30-28 at the half. With 121 to play in the contest, San Diego State's margin, which at one time had been 46-37, had been whittled to 51-49. · But the Toreros were forced to foul, and Aztecs Eddie Morns, Tony Gwynn and Michael Cage all made free throws to put the game away. "I'm always happy to win," said San Diego Stale Coach Dave Gaines. "But we didn't play very well. USO was fired up, no doubt about it. We didn't get the ball off the

•

GOING FOP TWO - USD forward Bob Bartho- lomew shoots over the guard of San Diego State's Michael Cage while Aztec center Drew Head joc- keys with another Torero player for rebound po-

sition under the basket. .'..:!lion came during last night's game at the Sports Arena, which San Diego State won_by a score of 60-52. (S~e story, E- 2). - Tribune photo by Ted Winfield