COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK : CCI’s Marshall Tends to Talent at Hand, Winds Up in Playoffs

After accepting the job to coach the Christ College Irvine men’s basketball team last spring, Greg Marshall was given a bit of advice he couldn’t follow.

“Some people said, ‘Don’t bother coaching these guys because you’re not going anywhere with them. Just concentrate on recruiting,’ ” Marshall said. “But I made a commitment that I wasn’t going to give up.”

Marshall persevered through the frustrating early going, during which his team lost its first four games of the season and seven of its first eight. The Eagles were slowed by injuries, illnesses and bad luck, but they have come together to win their past four games.

Marshall will guide the Eagles into a National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics District 3 semifinal game with Westmont at 6 p.m. Saturday at Whittier College.

For a school that had never sent a team to the district playoffs, it’s a shocking position to be in. Christ College’s record--13-17--may not be much of an improvement over the 11-20 of last season, but the team isn’t the patsy it was before. For instance, instead of losing their final six games of the season by an average of 24 points as they did last season, the Eagles won their final three.

“The underlying statement of all our goals was that we wanted people to have to prepare to play us,” Marshall said. “We just wanted to gain some respect and be known as a tough team to play.”

In the first round of the playoffs Tuesday, CCI defeated No. 2-seeded Fresno Pacific, 70-63.

After leading by as many as 17 points in the second half, CCI let Fresno back into the game, then held on to win. Earlier in the season, the Eagles might have folded completely. Five of the Eagles’ first eight losses came by fewer than five points.

“That comes from inexperience,” senior point guard Jamie McShan said. “People who are used to playing in close games don’t come up and throw the ball away.”

The Eagles’ game against Westmont has added meaning because Marshall spent the past five years as an assistant to Coach Chet Kammerer at the Santa Barbara school. Westmont (19-9) won both meetings with CCI this season, rallying to win, 66-63, in the final seconds in Irvine and routing the Eagles, 72-46, at home.

Because of its last-second 75-73 victory at The Master’s Tuesday night, Southern California College will play top-seeded Biola at 8 p.m. Saturday at Whittier.

The Vanguards (24-7) defeated Biola, 65-63, at home in December, but that was before Emilio Kovacic, Biola’s 6-foot-10 transfer from Arizona State, became eligible. Kovacic, one of three Biola players--Doug Newby and Mike Coffin from Cerritos College are the others--who seriously considered SCC before deciding to transfer to Biola, is averaging 19.2 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Eagles (25-6).

SCC is shooting for its second consecutive District 3 title and a trip to the national tournament in Kansas City, Mo. After struggling midway through the Golden State Athletic Conference season, the Vanguards have won their past four games, including the victory over The Master’s on Tuesday.

Bryan Moore made the winning shot against The Master’s with two seconds left, but SCC Coach Bill Reynolds singled out Jeff Bickmore, who had 35 points and 10 rebounds despite playing with a sprained ankle suffered Monday in practice.

It hasn’t been the best season for the Pacific Christian men’s basketball team, but the Royals are a game away from the National Christian College Athletic Assn. Division II tournament.

Pacific Christian (30-17), which before the season lost a guard because he wanted to try to walk on at Kentucky and lost players during the season because of academic ineligibility, marriage and injury, plays Northwest College of Kirkland, Wash., at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Loma Linda University in Riverside. The winner will advance to the NCCAA tournament next week at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

PCC has advanced to at least the semifinals of the eight-team tournament the last three years--the last two it lost in the title game. But the Royals, who had won consecutive California Coastal Conference titles before finishing second this season, won’t be expected to do as well this season if they advance to Chicago.

Pacific Christian’s women’s team has already qualified for the NCCAA Division II national tournament next week at Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, Pa., but the team may not be able to make the trip.

The Royals (16-15), who defeated Holy Names, 69-38, Saturday in the final of the California Coastal Conference tournament, will be the Southwestern Region representative at the tournament if the college finds the funds needed to fly the team east.

Pacific Christian is coached by Kelly Kappen, an instructor at El Camino College who was an assistant for the El Camino men’s team for 18 years. The Royals are led by Gina Atkins, the most valuable player of the conference and the conference tournament. Atkins, who averages about 14 points and nine rebounds, had 18 points and 18 rebounds in the Royals’ 56-38 victory over Dominican in the first round and 28 points and seven rebounds against Holy Names.

College Division Notes

Chapman’s Jackie Saunders, who led the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. in rebounding (11.1 per game) and was second in scoring (16.3) to teammate Linda Kirby, was the only Panther to be named a first-team all-CCAA selection. Jennifer Ballinger, who led the conference in assists (5.7), was named to the third team and Kirby, who averaged 20.7 points but missed half of the conference games because she was academically ineligible, was an honorable mention. . . . Rog Middleton, who has moved into fifth place on Chapman’s all-time men’s basketball scoring list with 1,433 points in three season, was named to the first-team all-West District team by the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches for the second consecutive season. . . . SCC’s Kristen Bevis, a sophomore guard, was the only Vanguard named to the all-District 3 women’s first team.