1995_03 The Daily Collegian March 1995

              a—The Daily Collegian     Friday, March 3,1995
Daily Collegian
'Dog hoosiers
lose tough one
at home
By Michael Young.
Stg|f_writer
Fresno State Men's basketall
team watched their hopes for the
sixth seed in the upcoming WAC
tournament disapear with the 72-
69 loss to New Mexico last night.
Despite th?loss there is no look¬
ing back for Colson. A battle-
weary Colson set the stage for
what to expect from his Dogs
when he spoke these words.
"We just have to come in here
Saturday and give it a_gpodshot.
We know where we stand right
now, as far as the play-offs go,
and we know who we're going to
play."
The Dogs will take on San Di¬
ego State in the first round of the
tournament.
The win for the Lobos was their
first win against Fresno State in
six tries. Fresno State had held
New Mexico to an 0-5 record be¬
fore tonight. ,, -
The first half was pjayed spo¬
radically by both teams. New
Mexico jumped out to an early
first-half lead behind the three
point shooting of a couple of Lor
bos. Marlow White hit a three-
point basket early to get the ball
rolling. Greg Shomstein added
two more bombs, for a perfect
two for two from the three-point
line, enroute to a team leading
seven point first half.
Davon Satterwhite was the
high man for the T)ogs in the first
half finishing with,J& Satterwhite
scored h of the Bulldogs first 16
points before the half-way mark
of the half.
Matt Stock was the lone Bull¬
dog reserve in the scoring col¬
umn. He finished the half with six
points on perfect two for two
shooting. Stock's defensive hustle
in diving for loose balls was in¬
strumental in the 10-4 run that
ended the half with Fresno State
leading 35-30.
The first'12 minutes' and 10
seconds of the second half was as
sporadic as the first, with the Lo¬
bos trap defense slowly draining
the life out of the 'Dogs offensive
attack. Poorly managed offensive
possessions gave New Mexico just
what they needed to force a 53-53
tie at the 8:50 mark.
Coach Colson felt that man¬
agement of the ball and having
efficient ball management was the
difference between a Fresno State
Joe Rosato Jr/The Dairy Collegian
Point guard Dominick Young passes through defenders. HeHinished the game with 22 points.
win and a disappointing loss. "The
key of the game was possessions.
Possessions are so important. We
talked about this. Knowing how
to play [and] knowing how to
win at the next level, possessions
are so key," Colson said.
New Mexico's Marlow White
took control for the Lobos, hitting
a three- point basket at the 8:32
mark that launched a series of
lead changes that made the game
exciting. Marlow finished with 21
points. The second big gun for the
Lobos, CharlesSmith, finished the
nigfit with 20 points, two of which
put his team in the lead for gcKxL
Both White and Smith had
unproductive first half's but
turned it'on in the second half to .
put their team in the position to
win. Colson was skeptical of hold¬
ing the duo to just-12 points be¬
tween them in the first half.
'  ■■        )
"They were the keyffor us de¬
fensively] they were the key be¬
fore the garnet they were the key
at half-time[and] they were the
; key after the game."
SopKompre point guard,
Dominick Youjjg, held it together
for the T)6gs, scoring 15 of his
game-high 22 points in the see-
on^ half. The sleeping giant, An-
See BASKETBALL, Page 7
Father, son are diamond duo for Bulldogs
By Chad Holcomb
Staff writer
History and tradition are
Fresno State baseball.
For every member on the
'95 T>og baseball team, there is
a sense of belonging and the
dedication and pride is obvi¬
ous when the players take the
field in their cardinal and blue
uniforms.
For two members of the
Fresno State baMbaii team;
. when they step onto the field
for practice or a game, it means
something a little different. It
means family.
In athletics, your teammates
become your family, and for
Assistant Coach Mike Rupcich
and infielder Larry Rupcich, if
couldn't mean more.
There is nothing a father
wants more for his boy than to
.succeed. Coach Rupcich is no
different, even on the fields a
coach. Day in and day out, for
Larry, he is a coach and a fa¬
rther. "W^-
The relationsbetwecn play¬
ers and coaches must be a
strong one for the team to play
"He was my dad for 19 years.  It is,
tough to deal with sometimes,
because he is not all my coach, on
the field and not all my dad at       r^
home, he is a mixture."
—Larry Rupcich
well as a team. The relationship
between the coach and his son, is"
a unique one, even for them.
"I like coaching Larry, it is a
pleasure for me to be around him
It is difficult at times because you
have to point out the good things
and the bad things and you have
to remember to keep them bal¬
anced,"' said cpach Rupcich.
"Sometimes, as a coach I think I
say more than I should say be¬
cause I want him to suceed so
bad."
"He was my dad for 19 years.
It is tough to deal with some¬
times, because he is not all my
coach on the field and not all my
dad at homer he is a mixture,"
said Larry who calls him dad on
thefield.       \
"It can be difficult at times if
we have a bad practice or a bad
game. We'll go home and I'll see
him across the table; he is won¬
dering what I am thinking and I
am wondering what he is think¬
ing We are still working on that
but I think we are good friends
and we understand eachother,'
said coach Rupcich.
It was not until last season, that
Coach Mike was technically a
coach for his son Larry. He never
coached mm in Little League, or
high school, but was always mere
to watch Larry always in support,
but from a distanced  v^/     "H
"He has played for everyone
else, this is the first time he had a
chance to play for me," said coach
Rupcich. Itisspecialbecauselget
a chance to see him on the field
and off Ae field."
"I want him to be successful in
whaf he does. You always have
dreams for your kids," said
Rupcich if he had dreams for his
son Larry.
j 'IWiy number one goal is to get
my diploma and my number two
goal is to come out and give it all
and be a little more consitent,'
said Larry on his goals. "You
have to make the opportunities
happen and you have to come
through when they are there. You-
must think, as positively about
yourself that you can, and just get
in there and swallow your pride.*'
'Iwashopingforthebestwhen
I came here, and it was a lot of
fun," said Larry on coming into
FSU to be caoched by his dad for
the first time.
lie has taught me a lot abottf
baseball, about the attitudes of
baseball and he has gotten me
through to where I am right now,"
said Larry about what he learned
from his father.
CoachRupckh couldn't be in a
be in a better position than he is
right now with the Bulldog coach¬
ing staff. Baseball has been a long
tradition in his life, starting with
his days playing for the Sun
Devils at Arizona State Uni¬
versity'' Mike, a three year
lettermar^ played shortstop,
third base and catcher*, finish¬
ing off his careef with a runner
up finish at the College World
Series his senior year.
After his final year at ASU,
Mike was drafted in 1972* by
the San Francisco Giants. He
played several years in the
minors of the Giants organiza¬
tion including the Fresno Gi¬
ants.
After his baseball playing
days were over in the minor
leagues, the oruy way to turn
was to coaching. Applying for
several jobs, Mike applied for a
job on the Fresno State staff.
After receiving notice that head
coach Bob Bennett had hired
someone eke, he accepted the
news and moved on. After the
hired coach declined the job
for personal reasons, Mike was
taken on the staff under
Bennett's suggestion. Mike has
been engulfed in traditions for
19 years as an assitant coach
for Bennett
See BASEBALL, Page 7
v