News Scrapbook 1982-1984

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EVENING TRIBUNE NOV 3 o 198Z,

since it lost at USF by six last Febru~ry.. "Until we started going for 1t tonight it looked like the same old thing," said Bro- ·vclh. "Maybe a win like this can help us over the hump. I told them at the end of regulation we'd come too far to lose 1t. We were up live in the first overtime and couldn't make the front ends of on~-and- ones or we'd have iced it. Then agam: w,e were down four in the second OT and d1dn t die. Maybe it's a good sign." The best sign of the night was_ the re- feree's signal that NAU guard Enc W~de had fouled out with 1:13 left m the f~rst overtime. He had a game-high 27 pomts and five steals. but he was the first of four Lumberjacks to foul out, all in the over- times. From the 4:45 mark, when NAU had_ its 52-39 lead, cntil the end of regulatt?n, USD's full-court pressure and trappmg half-court zone was effective enough to allow the Lumberjacks just nine points, all free throws. And what helped start the Toreros' streak was Roberts, who shot_ 43 percent from the line last year, makmg four straight free throws. In the end, foul shooting-Prunt~-Roberts was the right chemistry for last mght, any- way~·-------~--

Take nine more shots at the foul line, 42 to NAl''s 33, and make two more of them, 4 to 22 That way, even though y~u shoot 43 percent from the floor, you puH it ~ut.. "I think we did learn some thmgs. said Brovelli after his team evened its record at H ''Maybe. most importantly, they learned that when they went after it tough, they were good When you stand around and wait for something to happen .~o you only bad things are going to happen. . The rumor is that Brovelh 1s standmg around waitmg for the coaching Job _of th_e allegedly soon-to-be resurrected Umvers1- ty of San FrancJSCo ba ketball program. He ha coached USD to a 131-107 record m his now eight-plu years here, he IS an alumnu.s of USF, and be was recently m- ducted into Jts Hall of Fame. •Well," he said with an almo t el?bar- rassed chuckle, "it's nice to be ~ent1oned as a candidate, but first, theres n? J~b there and se<'ond. rm happy here. We re m a building process, we've got good kids and good support from the school, and it's gomg well." Last year USD lost seven games by a total of 28 points. It lost its opener last week to Air Force by two. It won_ last mght by two in its first double-overtime game

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By T.R. Reinman Tribune Sportswriter

As the Toreros bounced balls off the rim in the pre-game warmups last night, Jim Brovelli squinted and stared out at them, as if he were trying t_o will an answer to his quandary. It didn't look like that approach was work1_ng m pre-game, or even through the first 35:15 of what turned out to be a 50-mmute, double-overtime 76-74 University of San Diego win over Northern Anzona University. "We've got six new faces out there," explained the bead coach, "and we're still looking for the right chemistry. It's still early in the season, and we haven't worked under pressure situations, but we've got to find it." He found pressure situations, anyway, and he might have found some chem- istry, too. Take some Prunty, some Roberts and some foul shooting (if it's

T.R. Reinman's College Notepad examines why some bowls wound up with turkeys, C-4

shaky, just add some more) and you've got yourself some chemistry. At least all you need for NAU. Take one John Prunty off the bench and let him wing a few up there, for one thing. Once he and Dan Capener starting flinging 'em, the Toreros came back from a 52-39· shortfall with 4:45 left in the game, and tied it at 61 with 14 seconds left in regulation. "I didn't think we were going to lose with five minutes to go,' said Prunty circumspectively, "but I wasn't 100 percent sure we could win, like at the start of a game. I just figured if somebody didn't do something we'd lose. I figured I might as well try to start the something." Take one Robby Roberts, on whom the rap was bad hands, no foul shot and questionable endurance, and have him rip rebounds and play tough for the second shots. The Lumberjacks started a front line that went 6-foot-6, 6-7, 6-11, and Roberts outplayed all three of them before being rested less than 10 minutes into the game. At that point he had seven rebounds and be ended up with 22. And the smaller USDs outrebounded NAU 49-31. With three seconds left in the second OT, Prunty heaved one up from the corner, and it was• Roberts' rebound and strong followup in traffic that won the game. Please see USD, C-4

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Part HI/Tuesday, November 30, 1984".f *

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Toreros Score 76-74 Victory in 2 Overtimes By STEVE DOLAN, Times Staff Writer SAN DIEGO-There was so much suspense Monday night at the University of San Diego that a Hollywood writer couldn't have come up with a better script. In the end, USD prevailed over Northern Arizona in double overtime, 76-74, on a rebound shot by Robby Roberts with four seconds to play. But the real story of the game was a comeback by the Toreros, who raised their record to 1- L With 4:44 remaining in regulation, USD trailed, 52-39. The Toreros were even behind by eight with 1:47 to play, but the word quit was not in their game plan. They finally tied the game at 61-61 on Don Capener's 18-foot shot with 15 seconds to play. They've Gotta Believe "Sometimes, guys start waiting for things to happen VI hen you have a lot of ne players." Coach Jim Brovel- 1 said. "They have to start believing in themselves.. In , ert1me, our players started believing they could do 1t' If not for John Prunty, the Toreros never would have made it to overtime. Prunty scored six points the final 1 45 of regulation as USD made its surprising comeback. Until that time, it looked like a carbon copy of USD's season-opening loss to the Air Force Academy. The 'foreros had trailed that game by eight points with 42 seconds remaining, then ultimately fell two points short. Prunty and Roberts were to be the difference against Northern Arizona, tying for the team-lead with 16 -pomts. Prunty scored 10 of his points in the final 11,45. "Prunty brought us back," Brovelli said. "He was great off the bench. He started to take charge." In the first overtime, USO took charge by building a five-point lead with 38 seconds remaining. However, the Lumberjacks were to tie the game, 68-68, on a Jeff A !t.man.h:>qJrpt with three seconds remaining. Problema From the Line The Toreros hurt themselves in the first overtime by missing the front end of five one-and-one free-throw situations. They were just 2 of 6 from the line in the sec- ond overtime. Northern Arizona had built a 73-70 lead with 2,44 to play in the second overtime. Roberts scored a field goal and one of two free throws the next 32 seconds, pulling the Toreros within two points. • After the teams exchanged free throws, Prunty tied the score at 74 with a field goal 1:09 before the final buz- zer. On Northern Arizona's next possession, it turned the ball over with 50 seconds left when Andy Hurd in- advertently stepped out-of-bounds. USD then set up a 15-foot baseline shot by Prunty, which hit the rim and missed. Roberts rebounded, then followed through with the game-winning basket. The Toreros hit 43% from the floor, Northern Arizo- ha 53%. USD led in rebounds, 38-27, as Roberts had 21. Seven players fouled out-four from Northern Arizo- na and three from USD.

USD'S ROBBY ROBERTS BATTLES DAN BUSH

'-----ol--~~- Roberts had 22 rebounds

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