Oregon takes 16th before darkness halts play
Sophomore Justin St. Clair
leads the Ducks with a tie
for 37th in California
By Brian Smith
Freelance Reporter
The Oregon men's golf team has
been struggling to get out of the dark
during the early part of the 2004
spring season.
Darkness again suspended the sec
ond round of a tournament for the
Ducks. This time it was at the 27th an
nual Cleveland Golf Collegiate Invita
tional on the 6,815-yard, par-71 North
Ranch Country
DUCK
Club course in
Westlake Vil
lage, Calif.
- When play was
halted, the
Ducks were at a 12-over 296, good for
16th place in a loaded field that in
cluded eight of the top-25 teams in this
week's Golfweek rankings.
Individually, three out of the five
Oregon players completed two rounds
on Friday. Sophomore Justin St. Clair
led the Ducks with a score of 4-over
147, good for a tie for 37th. Fellow
sophomore Gregg LaVoie followed
with a 5-over 148.
The other Duck to complete his first
two rounds was senior Jimmy White,
who finished with a 10-over 154, tied
for 70th. Freshman Matt Ma complet
ed the first round with a 79, and senior
Mike Sica fired an opening round 81.
Only three of the 17 teams compet
ing in the tournament completed two
rounds of play Host school and No. 24
USC led all teams with a single-round
score of 2-under 283. Eleventh-ranked
Texas trailed close behind, while No. 20
BYU finished in 3rd.
TCU, fourth, and Alabama round
out the top five Third-ranked UCLA is
the surprise in the second tier of teams
that includes California, Tennessee,
Oregon State and Arizona State. The
Bruins, who are looking for their 11th
victory since last February, currently sit
ninth with 293.
The tournament's individual leader is
Texas sophomore Matthew Rosenfeld.
Rosenfeld fired rounds of 67 and 68 to
finish with a 7-under 135. The remain
der of the second round starts Tuesday
at 7:30 a.m„ followed immediately by a
shotgun start for the third round.
Brian Smith is a freelance
reporter for the Emerald.
HAGER
continued from page 5
scoring all of his 16 points.
Curiously, after going 5 for 5 from the
field — four shots of which were three
pointers — in the second half, he took
just two shots in the overtime session.
Brooks may be recognized most for
failing to get off a shot as regulation
came to close against California. So
Jackson was wide open. Crosswhite
may have had a better look at the bas
ket than Brooks.
Chalk it up to a rookie mistake.
Oh well.
Against the Golden Bears, Brooks
was the difference. Against the Cardi
nal, nothing he could have done
would have made a difference.
But the season as a whole would
have been different with the Seattle
native in the lineup.
Do the Ducks lose to Oregon State
on Jan. 10? Do they lose earlier this
season to Stanford at McArthur Court
after allowing the Cardinal to come
back from 19 down?
Better yet, do the Ducks stand more
of a chance of making the NCAA
Tournament?
My guess: No, no and no.
Oregon probably doesn't lose
those two games. The presence of a
true point guard would have kept the
Ducks from turning the ball over as
much, which has been of central con
cern all season.
The Ducks probably don't make the
NCAA Tournament with him healthy
the whole season, although it doesn't
seem as do or die as it does now.
The Stanford cheering section made
sure to welcome the Ducks with chants
of "NIT, NIT, NIT," as Oregon took the
Maples Pavilion floor Saturday.
With Brooks, those chants ring true.
Without him for most of the season,
as the Ducks have found out, those
students are probably giving Oregon
the benefit of the doubt.
Oregon just might be on the bub
ble for the NIT.
And that's if the Ducks can get to
the Pacific-10 Conference Tourna
ment two weeks from now.
With Brooks, the Ducks are in the
driver's seat this season. Without
him, they've instead been pushed,
pulled and bullied around from Pac
10 opponents, that, according to
most rankings around the nation,
are not up to snuff.
So what does that make the Ducks?
This week, lucky. If anything, they
should be thankful he came back in
time for the games against Southern
California and UCLA this week.
Imagine otherwise.
Contact the sports editor
at hankhageri@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
WINS
continued from page 5
changed words afterward.
When the Ducks met in the mid
dle of the "O" on McArthur Court's
floor for their regular postgame hud
dle, California was in its way. It ap
peared that the Golden Bears pushed
their way into the middle of the "O,"
forcing the Ducks off to the side to
wait for California to finish before
Oregon could celebrate.
"We always go to the middle of the
court at McArthur Court," point guard
Corrie Mizusawa said. "We never do
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that at away games."
Both head coaches said it was an
inconsequential event that didn't
stem from hard feelings.
"I think it's just a little thing that
happens at the end of the games
when you're at your home court and
the teams are trying to do their clo
sure," Smith said. "I don't think our
players took anything from it."
California and Oregon parted ways
at the middle of the court, knowing
they would meet again Friday in the
second game of the Pac-10 tournament
"Both teams have come full circle,"
California head coach Caren
Horstmeyer said Saturday.
The Ducks and Golden Bears
opened and dosed the Pac-10 regular
season against each other, playing in
Berkeley, Calif., on Dec. 27 and then
in Eugene on Saturday.
Braceless
Mizusawa, who has a partially tom
lateral meniscus in her left knee, spent
two weeks playing with a brace on her
knee. She chose not to wear the brace
in Thursday's game against Stanford
and again Saturday against California.
"She fdt that she was OK (without the
brace) and that it maybe impeded her a
little bit," Smith said after Thursday's
game "It tightens up and gets pretty sore
and stiff, but she's done a good job of ic
ing it. (Assistant athletic trainer) Tom
Embree's really done a great job of mak
ing sure she's practicing when she can
and resting when she can."
The other Oregon guard with a
torn lateral meniscus, sophomore
Chelsea Wagner, did not play in ei
ther of the Ducks' final home games
of the season.
"There are probably only so many
plays left in those knees and only so
many games," Smith said. "It's really
stiffened up on her and has become
quite painful. We chose to rest her
tonight to see if she'd be ready for
Saturday and if not quite ready then
we'll rest her again and see if she can
play with us at the Pac-10 tournament"
Tournament deja vu
For the second consecutive year, the
Ducks will face the team they closed the
regular season playing in their first game
of the Pac-10 Tournament. In 2003,
Oregon closed the regular season with a
56-54 loss to UCLA. One week later, the
Ducks lost to the Bruins, 71-58.
The Ducks' victorious outcome
against California on Saturday will be
tested Friday with an 8:15 p.m. tipoff.
Contact the senior sports reporter
at mindirice@dailyemerald.com.
WRESTLING
continued from page 5
wild card for the NCAA Tournament.
Sophomore Joey Bracamonte fin
ished the tournament with a third-place
finish in the 157-pound weight class.
Bracamonte lost his first match
Sunday and went into the consolation
bracket against Keith Kroeger of Cali
fornia Polytechnic. Bracamonte won
that match and his next three matches
to claim the third-place finish. Braca
monte, seeded fourth, should qualify
for an NCAA bid.
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Junior Luke Larwin won his first
match Sunday but lost to No. 2 seed
Christian Arellano of Cal State-Bak
ersfield.
Larwin entered the consolation brack
et needing to win his next two matches
to finish third. The junior did just that,
beating No. 6 Russell Brunson of Boise
State to lay claim to the third-place fin
ish and most likely an NCAA berth.
Junior Chet McBee finished the
tournament in fifth place, ending his
shot at an NCAA berth.
McBee wrestled against Jon Carlisle
of Boise State, earning a win and a
match against No. 4 Leonel Sanchez in
the 174-pound division. Sanchez, who
is from Cal State-Fullerton, outdueled
McBee. From there on, McBee faced off
against Frank Richmond of UC-Davis,
where McBee earned the victory.
Senior Jake Leair didn't fare as well.
Leair needed four wins after his first
round loss to finish the tournament
in third place. Instead, the senior won
his first consolation match but lost in
the next round, ending his season and
career as a Duck.
Little-used Chris Dearman entered
the tournament with limited experience
on the year. It showed in his first matdi.
However, Dearman won his first conso
lation match, along with his second.
Dearman was only one win away from
a match for the third place finish, but
lost to Arturo Basulto of Cal Poly.
In the final match to determine a
fifth-place finish, Dearman lost to Eric
Parker of Cal State-Bakersfield.
For those who qualified for the
NCAA Tournament, practices will re
sume with the tournament scheduled
for March 18-20.
Scott Archer is a freelance
reporter for the Emerald.
ARIZONA
continued from page 5
total in Pac-10 play since posting a 10
8 record in 1999.
Even more impressive, the
Huskies have not held down the
second place conference position
this late in the season since the
1985-86 season.
Washington faces Cal on Thurs
day and No. 1 Stanford on Saturday.
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The Huskies are 1-26 all-time
against No. 1 teams, beating UCLA,
69-68, in 1979.
Contact the sports reporter
atjessethomas@dailyemerald.com.
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