UC Riverside’s Effort Surprised Even Its Coach

Considering they led by 22 points in the NCAA Division II men’s basketball final, it might be hard to think of the UC Riverside Highlanders as overachievers.

But they are.

That probably doesn’t make them feel any better about blowing that lead and losing the national title to Southern Indiana, 71-63, Saturday in Louisville, Ky., but no one expected them to be there. Not even John Masi, their coach.

“This is a team that exceeded expectations,� he said. “Not just other peoples’, but I think their own and even those of the coaching staff. When we got there (to the final eight in Louisville, Ky.), I saw that we were just happy to be there. We weren’t even thinking about winning the championship. Maybe that helped us--that there were no expectations.

“But when we won the first game fairly easily, the players thought, ‘Hey, maybe we do belong.’ Then we beat Indiana (of Pennsylvania), which was No. 1, and we led the whole game. So we went from being glad to be there to playing for the title. We tried to prepare, and for a half, we were there. The offense just didn’t have it in the second half.�

Masi was still grappling with it on Monday.

“You know, today I’m just trying--we’re all trying--to recoup physically, emotionally, mentally . . . in every way,� he said. “There are no words to describe it. We asked the kids to give everything they had and they did, so if there is any blame, you can place it on me.�

Despite the loss, Riverside’s William Wilson was the tournament’s most valuable player. He had 19 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in the final, and made four free throws and grabbed a key rebound in the final 37 seconds to give Riverside a semifinal victory over Indiana.

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Ron Prettyman will leave Southern California College to become athletic director at Cal State Dominguez Hills next month. Prettyman has been the athletic director at SCC since 1983. He also has been an assistant professor and coach of the men’s tennis team. At Dominguez Hills, he replaces Kay Don, who retired last August.

Prettyman will be glad to know that Dominguez Hills was given one of eight national Awards for Excellence by Athletic Management magazine last week. The March issue honored the school for implementing “an impressive student athletic training program with limited resources.� Under the direction of athletic trainer Willda Bingham, the school established an internship program for students to gain experience.