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Posted March 13, 2003

Hoping to end SCIAC's exile

There aren’t many times that you would compare Los Angeles to Siberia, but some like to equate the two when it comes to the subject of Division III basketball.

The Southern California Interscholastic Athletic Conference has a cold, barren reputation when it comes to playing national competition in the postseason, so that may be why the league has a close eye on the Occidental men heading into the Sweet 16. The Tigers, 22-2 with a 16-game win streak, will change planes, then drive in vans two hours to Storm Lake, Iowa, to face host Buena Vista in the sectional semifinal on Friday night.

“A win there over the host would be big for the SCIAC,” said Occidental men’s basketball coach Brian Newhall. “I believe that until you do something, you have to earn respect. I can remember in 1983 (when Newhall played for Occidental), we won our conference title, but didn’t have an automatic bid to the tournament. We didn’t get in. So I guess you could say that we’ve been slighted for 20 years."

The Tigers already made the first step for themselves and their league by beating unranked Aurora in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, in front of a crowd that included all but one coach from the league and 60 or so players. It was just the conference's second tournament win since 1996, and the SCIAC is 12-29 in tournament history. The league is fully behind Occidental, the first team to even run the table in men's basketball, because they know that this may be their best chance.

That may explain why four Tigers earned All-SCIAC honors, led by Player of the Year senior forward Finn Rebassoo (at left, 16.9 points per game, 52% from the field, 40% shooting from 3-point range), who is the only player in SCIAC history to be a first team selection all four years. Sophomore forward Dallin Wilson, a transfer who didn’t play at Gonzaga, chipped in nearly 16 points per game and led the league in blocks with nearly two per game. Senior guard Song Cun, a local product who would in Newhall’s opinion play Division I if he were a little bigger than 5-7, runs the offense and senior forward Gavin Keohane, provides much needed support, blossoming the last two seasons after spending his first two on the JV squad. With seven seniors, the roster is strong on experience.

“We’re very skilled, but we aren’t very physical,” said Newhall. “That seems to be the biggest concern whenever the SCIAC goes national. You look at Buena Vista and see that they have nine kids at 6-foot-5 or bigger. We’re more likely to take the undersized guy who fits as a 6-foot-4 power forward.”

It has been a rough year for college basketball in Southern California at the Division I level. UCLA has been bad enough that Steve Lavin’s pending dismissal as head coach has turned into a national joke and USC’s record is no better. Occidental even beat Cal State-Fullerton in an exhibition game. But what the Tigers are playing for represents even more than pride for a city that barely acknowledges its existence.

“It’s a huge test,” Newhall said. “We’ll get a feel for whether or not we can compete. We’re smaller than these teams, we’re not used to the travel, and we haven’t been in one of these types of games before. We’re just the California kids who are going to come in and say ‘Whoa!”

Occasionally the stats tell the story
We’ve seen some pretty impressive numbers racked up this season. But the UW-Oshkosh men’s basketball team has them all beat.

By Lynne Powe, Hope College public relations Tim Dworak's 12-for-17 night was part of a 61% shooting performance for UW-Oshkosh in the second-round win at Hope.

Senior forward Tim Dworak, the WIAC co-player of the year, has an impressive string of his own, having scored in double figures in 67 consecutive games. He got in one of those unstoppable grooves in a win at Hope that propelled Oshkosh (24-6) into Friday’s sectional semifinals at Randolph-Macon. Dworak had 23 of his 36 points in the second half of that game, and finished 12-for-17 from the field. For the season he’s averaging better than 22 points per game, shooting 63% from the field and 53% from 3-point range.

“It was one of those times when you’re in a zone,” said Dworak, referring to the Hope game, though he could have been talking about the whole season. “As a senior, you have to get the job done. I like having that on my shoulders.”

At 6-foot-7, Dworak has developed into a dynamite all-around player. He improved his post game at the collegiate level because his coaches saw the opportunity to turn him into a dominant player. He may not have the thick-muscled look of some of his teammates from the farming communities (“I was a city guy,” he said of his growing up in Kewaunee), but he has deceptive strength.

“The Hope fans were calling me a skinny wimp,” Dworak said with a laugh. “A lot of people may say that I’m not strong, but I can hold my own with anyone.”

That includes whoever top-ranked Randolph Macon throws at him, perhaps fellow All-American candidate Jared Mills. Oshkosh won the WIAC for the second straight year after placing third during the regular season. The Titans proved they could win big games already. Now they will face their toughest test.

“I think we’ll get to see where we’re really at,” Dworak said. “I think we can play with anybody if we play our ‘A’ game. It will be fun for us to see how these teams compare.”

Surviving a shock to the system
It’s funny how time works. It took five years for Ramapo coach Chuck McBreen to build his program to where he wanted it to be, and only about 30 seconds for him and his squad to absorb the most valuable lesson it has learned in his tenure

“The shock of that ball going into the basket,” said McBreen, “made us lose our heads.”

Ramapo rushed its setup on that possession, shot too soon, and missed. Montclair’s Ben Martinez got the rebound, drove the length of the floor and scored on a layup with 1.9 seconds remaining. Game and championship to Montclair.

“The one positive that came from that was that it made us realize that we weren’t unbeatable,” said McBreen, whose Roadrunners get Montclair State again, this time in the sectional semifinals at Wooster College. “We had won 17 games in a row and hadn’t lost in two months. This made our kids realize that if you don’t make good decisions and play smart, you could lose. When you have a chance to put people away, you have to do it.”

That’s something Ramapo had done throughout much of the season, winning the regular season title with a squad that returned 10 players from a season ago. Among them were NJAC Player of the Year Charles Ransom, star sixth man Jared Milligan, and All-American candidate, senior point guard Tennyson Whitted, who may repeat as the nation’s leader in assists. The Roadrunners lived up to their nickname, scoring 90 or more points 15 times. The 25 wins is a team record, topping the 24-win season of 1991 in which Ramapo went to the Final Four.

“We try to fatigue you with 11 or 12 guys,” McBreen said. “We have a lot of depth and a lot of experience.”

It took awhile to get to that point, though McBreen says it really shouldn’t be considered more the blink of an eye.

“Five years for me is a short time for us to get to where we wanted,” McBreen said. “We were 5-20 the year before I came in. You have no idea when you come in how long it’s going to take to get the program turned around. You have to give a guy at least four years to bring in people who are a part of his mentality.”

Spreading the credit around
Unselfishness is usually the primary characteristic of the Williams men’s basketball team, but head coach Dave Paulsen says that is even more true this season.

“It’s something we stress day in and day out,” said Paulsen. We’ve had seven different guys lead us in scoring in games this season.”

The Ephs had something extraordinary in that they had five players average double figures in scoring, a rarity at any level. That group includes four starters (Ben Coffin, Michael Crotty, Drew DeMuth and Chuck Abba) and sixth man Tim Folan, who puts up better than 10 points in only 15 minutes of playing time per night. Folan was supposed to be a starter this season but had a stress fracture in his back that caused him to miss the opening of the season.

Once the Ephs (26-1 heading into the sectional semifinals against Hamilton), got off to such a quick start, Paulsen chose not to tinker with the lineup. Folan responded by playing great in spurts of action. In the second round win against Salem State, he scored eight of his 15 points in a 48-second span right off the bench.

The players take their cue from their head coach. Paulsen, in his third season since replacing current athletic director Harry Sheehy III, has molded the team in the Williams philosophy in his own way, though he carefully defers the credit. Oh, and forget about looking ahead to a possible rematch of the NESCAC final. Paulsen would much prefer to talk about his team and its way of going about its business.

“Hopefully when you see us, you’ll say that was the way basketball was meant to be played,” he said.

Notes for Around the Nation are compiled with the help of sports information directors across the country. If you have suggestions or information for this column, please send it to mark@d3hoops.com.

2008-09 columns
Feb. 20: York (Pa.), no cliche
Feb. 13: St. Thomas writing history
Feb. 6: George Fox on hunt
Jan. 30: Brother, brother
Jan. 23: Growing a program
Jan. 16: Dudek's rare feat
Jan. 9: Ravin' about Anderson
Dec. 18: Chicago marooned at 0-9
Dec. 12: De Luca back on track
Dec. 4: Ithaca surprises
Nov. 21: Augie gets some delp
Nov. 13: Is repeat possible?

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