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Show The Thunderbird Mtmffav Marcfi. 3, 1986 Page 11 Jl 1 hoop season ends suddenly, sadly T-Bi- rd BY KENNETH COX The SUSC mens basketball season came to an abrupt halt Monday night, canceling Tuesday nights playoff game and shattering the Thunderbird hope of postseason play According to Athletic Director Steve Lunt, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference office notified the college Sunday that the school was in violation of conference rules regarding two transfer students and the team, consequently, was barred from the RMAC tourney The two players, Varlin Law and Joe ONeal, transferred from other NCAA institutions According to Lunt the NCAA eligibility rule states that a player coming from another NCAA school must v ait one year after transferring before they can compete, while the NAIA ruling is 16 weeks SUSC is a dual affiliate. The RMAC guidelines state that a school with dual affiliation must abide by the most stringent of the rules The Thunderbirds filed the correct eligibility forms with the RMAC before the basketball season began Lunt said the forms have been in since October. That w'ould allow an inquiry to be made before the season began The NAIA does not make a check on eligibility of placers m dual programs It is a conference guideline and the conference makes that determination. Lunt said the SUSC officials thought the school was m total compliance with the rules. SUSC Coach Bob Schermerhorn said he was devastated by the ruling which could also mean that the whole season be forfeited. Lunt said the conference commissioner informed him that anv game the two players had placed in could be forfeited Tic .To said the school had announced its intention this year to be involved in only NAIA postseason play, not NCAA. The most affected by the ruling are the plavers, according to Schermerhorn He said he was concerned for the seniors This is a heck of a way to end their careers, he said I feel bad for the two players involved because they didnt do anything wrong. had practiced The notified and w'ere Monday that night they were not eligible for post season play. Senior Trent Scarlett said Tuesday he was in shock. Scarlett said he knew his career would end but he didnt expect it to end this wav. Its totally different than I thought, I never planned for this, he said. Maz Trakh, a three year member of the squad, said he felt it was a rotten way to end the vear. If the school had been notified earlier, we would have had time to prepare, thats not the way 1 dreamed it would end, Trakh said It was a disappointing end for us he added. Trakh feels that the whole area was cheated by the conferences late announcement, the plavers because they had prepared for the playoffs and the fans because they had shown their support. Steve Lueke said he was very disappointed because he felt that all the squad members had paid their dues He said he felt a big d letdow n ONeal said that he was very upset by the decision, he wasnt aware the college-hadual affiliation He said the ruling came as a big surprise to him because he had done everything that thev had asked him to do after transferring from Idaho State. Its not the way you expect your season to end, said senior Gordon Anderson, who also asked a question echoed by Schermerhorn, Scarlett, Lueke, Trakh, and ONeal and many fans. Why did the decision come now when the ehgibility papers have been in the league office since October? Lunt said any final decision, any penalty that the school might face has yet to be handed down. The school has sent a letter stating its position and Lunt expects the final decision about eligibility to be presented by return mail I I i i i Rene Ramsey teas expected to be a big gun for the Lady 'Birds in the opening round of the RMAC playoffs in Durango Friday and, despite playing in fold trouble loss to Western t for most of the game, still racked up 18 points in the four-poin- State. Women lose playoff opener 68-6- 4 BY DAVE BURNS The SUSC womens basketball season came to a , as the Lady Mountaineers of Western Stare outlasted Boyd Adams' squad V'SC came into the Fort Lewis gymnasium with a jukebox warm up to get themselves in the b ball fever and rhythm The clapping, hopping and bopping obviously was a good thing to do. close Friday night in Durango, Colo 68-6- 4 and extended their SUSC led at half time lead to six points early in the second half But that was as far as thev could pull ahead Western State came back and took the lead wath 11 40 to go, on a basket by Tracy IsftrJmg Isferding led all scorers with 21 points She was also the games leading rebounder with 15. before the Western upped its margin to Lady Birds came back to recapture the lead at on a basket by Rebecca Wilkins with eight minutes left. But it was Isferding doing it again, 32-2- 8 46-4- 3 48-4- 7 hitting two shots inside the paint to put Western on top. And they never trailed after that. They increased the.r lead to five with just over three minutes left But SUSC refused to sa die, as its full court pressure caused a pair of turnovers which led to two baskets and a free throw, and it was all tied wath 2 09 left in the game Rene up at 55-5- 5 Ramsey then committed her fifth personal f ml and lhat seemed to spell doom for the women The Lady Mountaineers downed both free thiwws, then SU missed its shot on the m xt possession Tanja Pavlov ic (15 points) then came down to put one home and Western up by four at SUSC then missed again, and started to foul. But Western made seven of their last 10 fiee throw attempts to ice the upset victory. Western State shot 47 percent from the field to SUs 41. The Lady Mountaineers also won the free throw shooting contest by making 14 of 21 attempts to the Lady Birds 8 of 19 (below 50 percent). SU was also outrebounded In the locker room at half the Lady Mountaineers probably played some more jukebox, as they came out in the second half and jut outplayed SU. Their swarming defense left no open shots for Denise Muir and company. Ramsey ended her career with 18 points and five rebounds Muir scored 13, Darla Hunt had 12, and Angela Levi pulled down eleven rebounds They finished the season with an overall record of 16-Western met Fort Lewis Saturday night for the District 7, championship The Lady Raiders squeaked out a win in overtime over Mesa. It was a tough way to go out, but nevertheless was a good vear for the Lady Bird basketball team. Ramsey is the only loss to graduation 62-5- 8 43-4- 57-5- 6 si |