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Wednesday, March 12, 2003

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Gannon will find out quickly what the team to beat looks like in the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament -- Kentucky Wesleyan.

Kentucky Wesleyan has set the standard by reaching the title game each of the past five seasons, winning championships in 1999 and 2001.

No. 7 seed Gannon (20-7), making its fourth consecutive trip to the tournament, will meet No. 2 Kentucky Wesleyan (26-3) at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the first round of the Great Lakes Region at Houghton, Mich.

Gannon's defense will be put to the test by a Kentucky Wesleyan team that averages 90.3 points, led by 6-foot-3 senior Marlan Parmer (19 ppg, 8.3 apg, 5.6 rpg), a transfer from the University of New Mexico.

Kentucky Wesleyan, the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season champion, was upset by Lewis in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

The Golden Knights received an at-large bid after they had a five-game winning streak snapped by Findlay, 70-67, in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. They feature 6-9 Josh Morgan, a senior center from Grove City High School who averages 14.8 points and 7.7 rebounds.

Morgan has scored more than 20 points in the past five games, averaging 24.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. Morgan and 6-0 senior Marc Sturdivant (15.3 ppg) provide Jerry Slocum's team with a solid inside-outside punch.

The tournament trail

No. 5 seed St. Vincent (23-3), the North Division champion of the American Mideast Conference, will play unseeded Bethel, Kan., (18-13) at 5:45 p.m. today in the first round of the NAIA Division II men's tournament at the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo.

St. Vincent's key players are Tony Washam (24.7 ppg, 9 rpg), Chris Williams (13.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg), Kennon Roberts (12.2 ppg, 4 apg, 3.9 rpg) and Jeffrie Mallory (9 ppg, 5 rpg, 49 blocks, 49 steals).

No. 5 seed California (25-8) will play No. 4 Salem International (24-5) Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division II men's basketball East Region at Charlotte, N.C. California, which lost to Millersville, 79-74, in the semifinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament, is led by Ishmieal Kamara (15.6 ppg), Ryan Stefanski (13 ppg, 96 3-pointers), Tom Frederick (12.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Michael Johnson (10 ppg, 7.3 rpg).

California (29-1), ranked No. 2 in the country by USA Today/ESPN and WBCA, will play host to Millersville (20-8) Friday in the first round of NCAA Division II women's East Region. California, champion of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, has won 13 in a row after a 69-60 loss at Pitt-Johnstown. California defeated Millersville, 75-59, in the semifinals of the PSAC tournament.

A big jump

Allegheny senior pole-vaulter Jeremy Scott will be the only collegian on the United States team that will compete at the World Championships this weekend in Birmingham, England. He qualified for the team with a vault of 18 feet, 8 1/4 inches for a Division III indoor record and a second-place finish in the United States Track & Field Indoor championships earlier this month in Boston.

Scott, 21, was an average of 10 years younger than the other nine competitors at the championships. A graduate of Norfolk High School in Norfolk, Neb., Scott played tight end for two seasons on Allegheny's football team and caught four passes for 36 yards.

In the swim

Grove City junior Peggy Whitbeck will try to defend her national championship in the 200-yard butterfly this weekend at the NCAA Division III women's swimming and diving meet at Emory University in Atlanta. She earned the top seed with a national record 2:01.84 in the final of the Presidents' Athletic Conference championships.

Whitbeck became the first swimmer from Grove City to win a national championship last year. She also is top seed in the 100 butterfly and sixth seed in the 500 freestyle.