Small Colleges / Alan Drooz : Favored Riverside Faces a Challenge in CCAA Race

The annual California Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball dogfight will begin Friday night with a full round of games. UC Riverside, the favorite, has been strong as expected, but some surprising teams could make for a tightly packed race.

Cal State Bakersfield has been a mild surprise, off to a 11-2 start. Cal State Dominguez Hills may be a bigger surprise at 10-3, its best nonconference record. Riverside is 9-3, but two of those losses were to Division I teams. Of the eight schools, only Cal State Northridge (3-9) and Cal State Los Angeles (5-6) have losing records.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is 8-5 and Cal Poly Pomona and Chapman College are 7-6.

Riverside, which will play Friday at Pomona, has been led by forward Robert Jimerson, who is averaging 18.8 points and 11.1 rebounds. Forward Julius Thomas has averaged 13.6 points and 7 rebounds a game, plus 3 assists.

The Highlanders will be buoyed by the return of center Paul Kapturkiewicz, who may be their key player. He missed six games with a sprained ankle but was back for Monday night’s game against Abilene Christian and scored 24 points. The 6-foot 8-inch senior, who may be the CCAA’s best big man, is averaging 20.2 points and 9.2 rebounds.

Riverside’s opponent, Pomona, which was 4-10 in the CCAA last season, has made strides and has three players, Darren Suttle, Greg Brofer and Zenon M, in double figures.

Bakersfield, which will play host to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Friday, is winning with balance, with all five starters in double-figure scoring. Guard Karl Finley has been spectacular lately, though, and had a 27-point, 13-assist game against Cal Lutheran. Finley, Earl Hawkins, Paul Phifer, Jeff Hughes and Ryan Shaw are the steady quintet.

Dominguez Hills, which will open at home against Chapman, has a nice blend of underclassmen and seniors, led by senior forward William Alexander. He scored 45 points in two weekend games. The 6-4 Alexander is averaging 20.4 points and is within 138 points of the CCAA career scoring record.

Also in double figures are sophomore Tony Akins and Vico Nomaaea. Another sophomore, center Anthony Blackmon, is averaging nearly 9 rebounds and had 18 over the weekend against Grand Canyon College. The loss to Grand Canyon snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Toros, who are 8-1 at home.

Cal Poly SLO, with one of the West Coast’s top Division II players in swing man Sean Chambers, has been the CCAA’s streakiest team. The Mustangs were expected to be strong and got off to a 5-0 start. Then they lost five straight, and have since won their last three.

Chambers is averaging 19.3 points and 6.8 rebounds. The team has had problems switching from its zone defense of the past to new Coach Steve Beason’s man-to- man.

Friday’s other CCAA opener will have Cal State L.A. at Northridge. The top four teams at the end of conference play will advance to the CCAA tournament.

Cal Poly Pomona is again the preeminent women’s team going into CCAA play Friday. The Lady Broncos are 12-1 and have won 10 straight going into Friday’s home game against UC Riverside.

Debra Larsen paces four Lady Broncos in double figures, averaging 16.3 points and 11.3 rebounds. Guard Michele McCoy is averaging 13.6 points and 7 assists. And in the rich-get-richer department, 6-2 freshman center Niki Bracken has stepped into the starting lineup and is producing 13.7 points and 7 rebounds a game.

Riverside, off to a 9-2 start, has been the early surprise among the women. However, as one league official said, “We figure it’s Pomona up by itself, then the others in a dogfight for second, third and fourth.”

The Golden State Athletic Conference started its first season of play Tuesday night, but an eight-team tournament Thursday through Saturday at Pt. Loma Nazarene in San Diego should be a good indicator of strength in the GSAC as well as NAIA District III. The tournament will involve four out-of-state teams plus Pt. Loma, Azusa Pacific, Biola and Cal Lutheran. Biolo is 12-0.

Baseball Coach John Scolinos of Cal Poly Pomona will receive the Lefty Gomez Award at a ceremony commemorating his distinguished career Sunday in San Diego. Scolinos, entering his 40th year of coaching, is the winningest active college coach in the country with a record of 1,066-805. His record in 25 years at Pomona is 690-592 with national titles in 1976, 1980 and 1983.

The award is presented by the American Baseball Coaches Assn. Gomez, a Hall of Fame pitcher, is scheduled to make the presentation at the Sheraton Island Hotel.

Joey Kirk, star junior forward on the Cal State Northridge soccer team, has been named to the U.S. Soccer Federation West training camp roster. The camp will be held Jan. 16 to 22 at Cal State Dominguez Hills. The camps are being held regionally to train and select players for international competition, including the Pan American Games next summer in Indianapolis as well as the World University Games and the 1988 Olympics.

Kirk scored 14 goals and had 12 assists last season, and shared the most valuable player in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

Small College Notes In the latest national wrestling rankings, Cal State Bakersfield’s Eric Mittlestead rose from 14th to No. 2 at 190 pounds and Darryl Pope remained No. 3 at 177. . . . Cal State Northridge senior Denise Sitton moved into second place on the school career scoring list with 1,126 points and needs 138 to catch Paula Moran, who is now an assistant coach at Northridge. . . . The Cal State Bakersfield basketball team’s 116-79 victory over Cal Lutheran gave Bakersfield its highest-point total in a victory. . . . Jim O’Brien, Caltech track and cross-country coach, ran his first ultra-marathon over the holidays and was the first runner to complete 50 miles. He finished in 5 hours 56 minutes 17 seconds. . . . Azusa Pacific’s 97-55 loss to Wayland Baptist, the top-ranked NAIA women’s team, was the worst ever for a Cougar basketball team at home.