SCC’s Reynolds Likes the Efforts of His Team

The Southern California College men’s basketball team narrowly missed a chance at a rare victory at Azusa Pacific Tuesday night.

The Vanguards, beginning the Golden State Athletic Conference season, couldn’t hold an 11-point lead in the second half and lost to the four-time defending champion Cougars, 88-86.

It was SCC’s fifth consecutive loss at Azusa, where the Vanguards have won only six games.

“It was a wonderful effort,” Vanguard Coach Bill Reynolds said Wednesday. “It’s just too bad for the kids because they played so hard and so well. The good news is that young people are pretty resilient and they’ll bounce back. The coaches will too. It just takes one sleepless night to get over it.”

Reynolds said he was impressed with how the Vanguards played against Azusa, ranked No. 21 in the nation in NAIA. The offense was clicking; the Vanguards made 15 layups and five other shots in the first half, shooting 61% from the field and taking a 51-44 lead. Of the 33 field goals SCC made in the game, 24 were layups.

But Azusa (14-5, 1-0) caught SCC (13-5, 0-1) with eight minutes left to play, after which it was a see-saw battle to the end. The Vanguards took their final lead, 86-85, on a layup by Rod Scheuerman with 2 minutes 6 seconds left.

With 26 seconds left, Nate Getz, a 6-foot-7 reserve center, tipped in a missed three-point shot by Trenton Jackson for an 87-86 Azusa lead.

Then after SCC took possession, point guard Adam Dzierzynski passed to Justin McIntee, who drove baseline and cut toward the basket. However, Getz stepped in the way and took a charge with eight seconds left. Jackson was fouled and made one of two free throws, giving SCC another change.

Taking the inbounds pass, Dzierzynski dribbled up court and took a shot from about 27 feet that hit the front of the rim.

“They were an inch from winning the game,” said Gary Pine, Azusa Pacific sports information director.

McIntee led SCC with 20 points and Scheuerman had 19. Dzierzynski had 12 points, four assists and eight rebounds.

SCC, which beat La Sierra in a nonconference game, 89-52, has another tough conference test today, but this one is at home.

The Vanguards host Biola (15-1), which is ranked fifth in the nation in NAIA. Biola is led by two players who started their college careers on NCAA Division I teams: 6-foot-9 senior Matt Garrison (Montana State) and 6-8 sophomore Jack Hartman (California).