Azusa Pacific

For every shining moment, there are dozens of dark ones. March Madness is a triumphant march for a few, a despairing madness for many. Not every college basketball tournament story ends with champions giddily cutting down a net. Sometimes it ends with second-place finishers despondently stuck on a bus. That was the Azusa Pacific men's basketball team Wednesday morning after returning from what was surely one of the cruelest of national championship...

It's NFL draft weekend, yet Southern California's top draft-eligible quarterback will be one of the few fans not watching the marathon ESPN broadcast. He and his four roommates can't afford cable television. "I guess I'm not all that curious," Azusa Pacific's John van den Raadt says with a grin. It's NFL draft weekend, a celebration of football bling, giant players walking across glittering stages in fancy suits, yet this area's best senior quarterback won't be dressing the part.

After struggling against 15th-ranked Doane of Nebraska for much of the first half, defending champion Azusa Pacific scored three unanswered touchdowns to win, 31-12, in the opening round of the NAIA football playoffs at Azusa. Doane (7-3) was leading, 12-10, before seventh-ranked Azusa Pacific (8-2) scored touchdowns in each of the last three quarters. All-American Jack Williams rushed for 152 yards and caught four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown for Azusa Pacific.

Before, it only seemed like Azusa Pacific might never beat Montana's Carroll College in football. Now it's official. In its last NAIA game before moving to the NCAA Division II level, Azusa Pacific dropped a 17-14 decision to Carroll in a playoff quarterfinal Saturday in Helena, Mont. The Cougars led the defending national champions until late in the game, but Carroll produced a clock-eating, game-winning 18-play, 78-yard drive that chewed up 8 minutes 25 seconds and ended in a one-yard touchdown run by Chance Demarais with 1:51 left in the game.

Win or lose against its longtime nemesis, Azusa Pacific is moving on. The Cougars will make the switch from NAIA to NCAA Division II football next year, positioning themselves as a more attractive destination for high school prospects from across the Southwest. But first things first, including what Azusa Pacific hopes is its first victory over defending national champion Carroll College on Saturday at Helena, Mont., in a quarterfinal playoff game. Carroll has defeated the Cougars in all six meetings, including a 35-21 victory last year in the first round of the playoffs.

Concordia made 17 of its first 20 shots in the second half and went on to upset ninth-ranked Azusa Pacific, 112-96, in a Golden State Athletic Conference men's basketball game Tuesday in Azusa. Tarik Jones made seven of nine shots in the second half, including all four three-point tries, and finished with a game-high 27 points for Concordia (18-8, 7-4). Azusa Pacific (21-6, 8-3) had its 13-game home winning streak stopped.

Azusa Pacific shot only 32% and lost to North Georgia State, 66-62, Wednesday in the first round of the NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament in Jackson, Tenn. Azusa Pacific (20-12) got 15 points each from Lindsey West and Marie Dyk. West also had 10 rebounds. Angelyn Love had 15 points and Jeanine Dorminey 12 points for North Georgia (29-5). In another first-round game, Point Loma Nazarene (23-12) defeated Lindsey Wilson of Kentucky, 75-61.

Mike Betancourth kicked three field goals and Peder Moore had a fumble return for a touchdown to lead Azusa Pacific to a 16-0 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State in the first round of the NAIA playoffs at Alva, Okla., on Saturday. Betancourth kicked field goals of 31, 39 and 22 yards. His 39-yarder came with two seconds left in the second quarter.

The president of Azusa Pacific University has announced he will resign to take a job as president of another university. Paul E. Sago, 58, who has headed Azusa Pacific since 1976, declined to name his new school but said it is in Southern California. This week the school's Board of Trustees accepted his resignation, which is effective Jan. 31, 1990, and lauded him as "a strong and effective leader."

Mountain State University of West Virginia used a 24-5 run that lasted seven minutes to race away from Azusa Pacific and post a 72-51 victory Saturday in the quarterfinals of the NAIA tournament at Kansas City, Mo. Guards James Spencer and Jarvis Jackson scored 24 of their combined 37 points in the second half and keyed the decisive run, which opened with Spencer's three-point basket and ended with a Jackson three-pointer that made the score 56-40 with 11:35 left.

Win or lose against its longtime nemesis, Azusa Pacific is moving on. The Cougars will make the switch from NAIA to NCAA Division II football next year, positioning themselves as a more attractive destination for high school prospects from across the Southwest. But first things first, including what Azusa Pacific hopes is its first victory over defending national champion Carroll College on Saturday at Helena, Mont., in a quarterfinal playoff game. Carroll has defeated the Cougars in all six meetings, including a 35-21 victory last year in the first round of the playoffs.

at No. 19 Nevada 52, New Mexico State 6: Vai Taua ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns and scored a third on a 79-yard pass at the Wolf Pack (10-1, 4-1 Western Athletic) tuned up for Friday's showdown against Boise State. Nevada ensured its first 10-win season since 1991 with its 11th consecutive home victory as Colin Kaepernick completed 15 of 27 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third. Freshman Andrew Manley completed 19 of 39 passes for 220 yards for the Aggies (2-9, 1-6 WAC)

For every shining moment, there are dozens of dark ones. March Madness is a triumphant march for a few, a despairing madness for many. Not every college basketball tournament story ends with champions giddily cutting down a net. Sometimes it ends with second-place finishers despondently stuck on a bus. That was the Azusa Pacific men's basketball team Wednesday morning after returning from what was surely one of the cruelest of national championship...

The word of God has appeared in many forms over the centuries, as scribes and printers have transmitted holy writings by hand and machine. Now two Southern California universities are preserving some of this history with separate sets of rare religious texts that originated 1,500 years apart but share a common biblical thread. Azusa Pacific University has acquired five fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the earliest known versions of the Hebrew Bible. The 2,000-year-old goatskin shards, featuring passages from the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, will be exhibited in May at the evangelical Christian university in the San Gabriel Valley.

Harrison Hill kicked through the smoke of uncertainty, the soot of fear, finding the back of the net with a solid right foot on a spotless white ball. He kicked the first goal, the only goal his Westmont College team would need, then he turned and ran. He ran past the teammate who, at this moment, owned only the uniform on his back. He ran past a teammate who had prepared for the game by searching Craigslist for a place to sleep.

Taj Gibson cannot forget. The margin was just too overwhelming. Kansas State outrebounded USC, 44-27, in the NCAA tournament last March, converting numerous put-back shots in an 80-67 first-round victory that eliminated the Trojans from a return to the round of 16. Gibson, a 6-foot-9 forward, took a respectable nine rebounds in the defeat, one above his season average. But Kansas State's differential inspired him to increase the intensity of his preparation for this season.

As EXECUTIVE vice president of Azusa Pacific University, David Bixby fields lots of calls. But one that came through last March was a stunner. Howard Kazanjian, a film producer and university trustee, had come across a trove of paintings by a giant of 20th century art that might be donated to the evangelical Christian university. The good news was that the works were said to have been made by Jackson Pollock, the Abstract Expressionist known for his "drip and splash" style.