THE COLLEGES : Fans Pick on Wrong Guy--Redlands President

Critics of college athletics often are quick to denounce college presidents for not taking a more active role in establishing policies for their schools’ sports programs.

That cannot be said of Dr. James Appleton of the University of Redlands, who got an unexpected dose of unruly fan behavior at Monday’s basketball game between Redlands and Occidental--and came away with a renewed sense of purpose.

Appleton was seated behind the Redlands bench where a group of Occidental supporters apparently had dug in to cheer the home team and taunt Redlands players.

The strategy wasn’t unique. Occidental players had been victimized in much the same way by Redlands fans two weeks earlier at Redlands.

Appleton said that while he didn’t condone the behavior, he tolerated it until Occidental supporters began using what Appleton described as “a hammer” to make more noise.

“I leaned over to ask them to please do whatever they wanted but not to use that (hammer)--that I thought it was unsportsmanlike,” Appleton recalled. “Well, that wasn’t appreciated.”

Occidental fans, whose team went on to lose, 88-83, reportedly created an ugly scene by hammering Appleton with abuse.

“I don’t mean to lean on the Occidental men,” Appleton said. “It was an escalation of some bad sportsmanship that has been building.

“(Occidental President) John Slaughter and I talked the very next day and agreed that we both had some responsibility for taking a leadership role in stating what college athletics are all about.

“At the next game between our teams, we need to make sure that both institutions are exemplary in how we treat each other.”

Best of the West?: Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist likes to think of the Western State Conference as California junior college basketball’s equivalent of the Atlantic Coast Conference or the Big East.

The comparison has some merit.

Seven of the WSC’s 11 teams are in the 26-team Southern California regional of the state tournament, and three--Valley, Ventura and Santa Monica--are among the top 10 seeded teams.

The respect the seeding committee had for the WSC is evident in the seeding of two teams with similar records. Glendale (22-11), a WSC school, was tabbed 11th, but Mt. San Jacinto (20-10) of the Orange Empire Conference was 18th.

In fact, probably only one other Southern California junior college conference could claim to be stronger--the WSC women.

The WSC women had the second-, fourth- and fifth-seeded teams, and a total of four in the 16-team field of the Southern California regional.

Stepping forward: There are plenty of reasons for Cal State Northridge’s monthlong slide in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. men’s basketball standings, but Kendell McDaniels is not one of them.

The 6-foot-4 sophomore forward from Chatsworth High has been the Matadors’ most consistent player during the past month, in which Northridge has lost six of eight games and fallen from first to fifth place in the CCAA standings.

McDaniels has been Northridge’s leading scorer four times and its top rebounder in three games. He has shot 57.5% from the field and has averaged 14 points and 7.4 rebounds a game.

“He’s been playing very well both offensively and defensively,” said Pete Cassidy, CSUN’s coach. “Not only is he scoring, but he’s also doing a good job inside underneath the boards. We ask him to do a lot and he’s responded very well.”

Diminishing returns: For the first 17 games of the season, freshman guard Bill Mazurie was Northridge’s sixth or seventh man. But he has played less and less during CSUN’s slump, and his numbers have dropped accordingly.

After averaging 8.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 18 1/2 minutes a game in the first 17 contests, Mazurie played a season-low seven minutes and did not score in an 80-77 loss at UC Riverside on Saturday.

Including the Riverside contest, Mazurie has averaged 3.9 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 11 1/2 minutes in the past eight games, during which Northridge is 2-6.

Victory needed: It won’t count in the NAIA District 3 standings, but Master’s regular-season finale at Grand Canyon College on Friday could determine whether the Mustangs host a first-round game in the District 3 playoffs, which start Tuesday.

The pairings won’t be official until Sunday, but it appears that the Mustangs will be the fourth- or fifth-seeded team in the seven-team playoffs, depending on how they and Southern California College fare in their final games.

If they defeat highly regarded Grand Canyon, the Mustangs would stand a good chance of hosting SCC in a first-round game. But if they suffer a double-digit loss to the Antelopes, they probably would be seeded fifth and would play on the road.

A victory also would avenge an 82-81 loss to Grand Canyon in January and assure the Mustangs (19-14) of a 20-win season.

Ratings game: The Cal Lutheran softball team is ranked ninth in the NAIA preseason poll, its highest preseason ranking ever. Seven starters return from a Cal Lutheran team that finished ninth in the country last season. The Regals will open Saturday at home against Cal State San Bernardino.

Gary Klein, Kirby Lee and staff writers Mike Hiserman, John Ortega and Brendan Healey contributed to this notebook.