Steve Bergum

It isn't always a simple case of "What have you done for me lately?" in college athletics. Gonzaga University proved that Monday by placing two players - Lorenzo Rollins and Bakari Hendrix - on the All-West Coast Conference men's basketball team, despite its 0-3 regular- season finish. In addition, the Bulldogs produced one of the league's top two rookies in point guard Matt Santangelo, who was named the WCC's co-freshman of the year, along with Santa Clara sensation Brian Jones. The postseason honors eased some of the sting of last weekend's road losses to co-champions Saint Mary's and Santa Clara. Those defeats knocked GU out of a first-place tie for the conference lead and all the way down to the No. 5 seed in the WCC tournament, which opens Saturday at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.

The West Coast Conference winds up one of the wildest and most fiercely contested regular-season championship races in its history this weekend. With just two games remaining, last year's regular-season co-champions, Gonzaga and Santa Clara, are tied with Saint Mary's for first place. All three teams are 8-4 in league play, but just two games ahead of fifth-place San Diego.

Dan Fitzgerald's final game at Martin Centre leaves the retiring coach pointing fingers, mostly at his struggling team. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Forget his impending retirement - for now, at least. Gonzaga coach Dan Fitzgerald has insisted all year long that his team, and the way it has responded to the early season injury to senior Paul Rogers, is the story.

Gonzaga coach Dan Fitzgerald will throw in the towel at the end of the season. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

1. And the award winners are...Sarah Silvernail. Female Athlete of the Year. 2. Scott Sanderson. Male Athlete of the Year. 3. Dan O'Brien. Professional Athlete of the Year. 4. Cindy Fredrick. Coach of the Year.

Trevino

1. It took Gonzaga coach Dan Fitzgerald to convince Bakari Hendrix to stay in the middle of Gonzaga's plans. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 2. (photo of Bakari Hentrix) 3. Bakari Hendrix (32) gets some support from Lorenzo Rollins, but there were times Hendrix felt he was not part of the GU family. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Gonzaga's Axel Dench (30) and Portland's Greg Klosterman set their sights on a loose ball during GU's victory Wednesday night. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Eastern Washington University parlayed last fall's modest six-win football season into a recruiting bonanza Wednesday by signing 19 top-notch high school prospects - including running back Elijah Baker, the state's AAA Player of the Year to national letters of intent. Baker led Tacoma's Curtis High School to back-to-back AAA state championships and rushed for 1,022 yards and 16 touchdowns last fall. The 5-foot-8, 180-pounder ran for 153 yards and three TDs in the state title game against Richland. "We've never, at Eastern, signed a player with more notoriety," third-year Eagles coach Mike Kramer said of the Curtis all-stater. "He's really going to unfurl some banners when he plops down here to start fall camp in August. "His reputation precedes him, that's for sure. But what I like is that he puts two state championship rings to bed each night." Baker, according to Kramer, is the plum of a recruiting class that also includes quarterback Scott Mitchell from Kennewick's Kamiakin High School, three all-state offensive linemen and a lightning-quick running back/ defensive back from Lompoc, Calif., the home of former University of Washington running back Napoleon Kaufman. "I think it's an exceptional year for us in recruiting at the skill spots," said Kramer, who expects to sign four or five more junior-college recruits in the next couple of days.

University of Portland and Gonzaga University, the schools that have met in the championship game of the West Coast Conference Tournament the past two seasons, square off tonight in Martin Centre in a matchup that could play a huge role in determining this year's regular-season champion. The Pacific Northwest rivals tip off at 7:30 in a game regionally televised by Fox Sports Northwest. GU (12-8 overall, 5-3 in the WCC) hopes to hold on to its share of first place in the conference standings and Portland (9-11, 4-4) hopes to further tighten a race that already has only two games separating the league's eight teams.

Eastern Washington opened the second half of its Big Sky Conference men's basketball season in the same lame manner it closed the first half - by losing to a school that has had its program in mothballs the past 16 years. The Eagles, showing little in the way of defensive awareness and even less in the way of composure and confidence, were overwhelmed 73-58 on their home court Friday night by the same upstart Portland State team that edged EWU 71-67 in Portland's Rose Garden last Saturday. The latest loss, witnessed by a Reese Court crowd of 1,434, pushed Eastern's losing streak to five and dropped the Eagles to 6-13 overall and 2-7 in the Big Sky. PSU, which re-established its program for the first time since 1981 so it could join the Big Sky this year, won its third straight and raised its record to 6-13 and 3-6. It was the first road win in 11 tries for the Vikings, who started three true freshmen. "I was really pleased we played as unselfish and united as we did," PSU coach Ritchie McKay said after watching his young team build on its 36-29 halftime lead by spreading the floor and using the clock brilliantly throughout the final 20 minutes. "But the reason why this win is so precious for us is that this is a good Eastern Washington team. Montana and Montana State both experienced that (in close wins at Reese Court), and we experienced it at the Rose Garden. "Coach (Steve) Aggers has turned this program and gotten it to the point where they're very competitive night in and night out. So to come in here on their floor and execute like we did is a huge step for our program." Aggers agreed with what McKay said about the Vikings, but wasn't as sold on his assessment of the Eagles. "I don't know what's happened to our team," he said. "I just don't see the hunger in our eyes. We've been emotionally flat since Christmas. "Our guys right now are in a hole. It's the same thing as a year ago. We've just got to figure a way out of it. We've got to learn to play better when we're behind." In an effort to stir some fire in his struggling team, Aggers turned to full-court defensive pressure for one of the few times this year. But PSU turned the strategy into a first-half parade to the foul line. The Vikings, despite shooting only 34.6 percent in the first half, took control of the game by making 15 of 16 free throws prior to intermission and then banging down eight of their first 11 second-half field goal tries. Sophomore guard Brian Towne paced PSU with 17 points. Junior-college transfer Jamaal Sanford added 15 and McKay's starting freshmen, Derek Nesland, Mike Vanderhoff and Hasan Artharee, combined for 27 more. Eastern, playing without starting guard Luke Egan, who was serving a one-game suspension for skipping classes, had little in the way of answers - at either end of the court. Mike Sims scored 13 points to lead a quartet of double-figure scorers for EWU. But the Eagles turned the ball over 17 times and could not cope with Portland State's perimeter quickness. The Vikings went to a four-guard lineup to offset Eastern's size advantage and slow the tempo. "They went to a cutting game and we just couldn't defend it," Aggers lamented. "Our big guys couldn't bend their knees and get down. "I thought their perimeter people played really well, and ours played horrendous," Aggers said. "Our guards played wilder than Friday night in Butte, Montana." Point guard Travis King scored 12 points, but made only 2 of 7 3-point tries and turned the ball over five times. The Eagles play at Idaho State Thursday and at Cal State Sacramento next Saturday. Portland St. 73, E. Washington 58 Portland St.(6-13) - Nesland 4-6 2-2 12, Artharee 3-3 0-0 6, Sanford 6-12 3-4 15, Vanderhof 4-9 0-0 9, Towne 7-11 2-3 17, Snook 2-3 0-1 5, Ambrose 0-7 6-6 6, Garner 0-2 3-4 3. Totals 26-53 16-20 73. E. Washington (6-13) - Sims 6-13 1-1 13, Scott 4-6 3-5 11, K. Lewis 5-8 0-0 10, King 4-10 2-3 12, Claus 0-0 0-0 0, Moss-Kelley 1-4 0-0 2, Garcille 0-1 0-0 0, Berger 0-2 0-0 0, M. Lewis 2-3 0-0 5, Turner 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 24-57 7-11 58. Halftime-Portland St. 36, E. Washington 29. 3-Point goals-Portland St. 5-12 (Nesland 2-3, Vanderhof 1-3, Towne 1-3, Snook 1-1, Ambrose 0-1, Garner 0-1), E. Washington 3-12 (Sims 0-1, King 2-7, Moss-Kelley 0-3, M. Lewis 1-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Portland St. 31 (Sanford 10), E. Washington 28 (Scott 8). Assists-Portland St. 14 (Nesland 4), E. Washington 17 (King 5). Total fouls- Portland St. 16, E. Washington 23. A-1,434.

The Pro Classic, Spokane's annual two-day affair with selected members of the Senior Professional Golf Association Tour, is on the move once again. Both the venue and dates of this year's event will change from 1996, according to organizer and promoter Toby Steward.

Coming into the season, Dan Fitzgerald didn't expect much to come easy for his young Gonzaga Bulldogs. But he never dreamed that his final tour of duty as GU's head coach would become as emotionally unsettling as it has. The roller-coaster ride continued Saturday night as his Bulldogs put together a brilliant first half, then suffered through another second-half fainting spell before putting away Pepperdine 72-56 in front of a Martin Centre homecoming crowd of 3,932. The win completed another home sweep for GU and kept the Bulldogs, 11-7 overall, tied for first place in the West Coast Conference at 4-2.

Roger and Janet Dench might want to tip their travel agent when they return next week to their home in Melbourne, Australia. After spending the last 22 days touring the East Coast and making stops in Montreal and New Orleans, the couple arrived in Spokane this week - just in time to watch their son, Axel, put together a career game in Gonzaga's 71-60 win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday night.

Gonzaga University is scrambling to find radio personalities to fill in for longtime play-by-play announcer Dick Wright, who was hospitalized last week because of a recurrence of pancreatic cancer. Wright, who has done play-by-play on GU broadcasts for 14 years, underwent surgery last week and missed GU's West Coast Conference road trip to San Diego and San Francisco.

REPLAY: Sports, January 23, 1997: John Johnson will become athletic director at Weber State in 1998. Until then, he will be senior associate atheltic director. Johnson

Eastern Washington's Mike Sims loses the handle as the Eagles lose touch with Montana during the first half. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Eastern Washington's Eddie Turner III watches as Danny Sprinkle of Montana State rebounds Turner's missed shot. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

1. Eastern Washington University's Kevin Lewis, left, shows his willingness to battle for a loose ball. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review 2. Kevin Lewis rises to the occasion above WSU's Carlos Daniel. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Bakari Hendrix outleaps A.J. Rollins for offensive rebounds. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Some like it hot, yes. But a college basketball team trying to stage a frantic second-half comeback normally prefers it rough. And thanks to an officiating crew that let both teams play, rough was exactly how Santa Clara found it Saturday while clutching, grabbing and bumping in an effort to make up a 13-point deficit in the final 10 minutes of its West Coast Conference opener against Gonzaga. GU obviously blinked in the face of such physical play. But in the final 3 minutes, the Bulldogs answered the Broncos hack for hack and shove for shove, holding on for a 75-66 win that elated most of those in a Martin Centre crowd of 3,208.

WCC basketball preview A glance back to last season, when Gonzaga and Santa Clara shared the West Coast Conference regular-season championship, would suggest that tonight's Martin Centre matchup between the schools should again have title connotations. But GU coach Dan Fitzgerald is quick to warn that "in this case, the year before is so much the year before that it's unbelievable." Translation: Neither his Bulldogs nor Dick Davey's Broncos will have much in common with last year's teams when they open their WCC schedules at 7. Santa Clara (6-6) comes in without two-time all-WCC point guard Steve Nash, who has taken his act to the NBA. GU (7-5), after losing senior center Paul Rogers to a season-ending foot injury, has only one starter - senior guard Lorenzo Rollins - back from last year. And neither team is considered a favorite in this year's WCC race. Instead, league coaches seem most enamored with San Diego and Saint Mary's, teams that finished sixth and seventh last season - although Fitzgerald isn't ready to dismiss Santa Clara, especially with the Broncos in town where they can read his comments. "I still think you have to go with San Diego and Saint Mary's in some order," Fitzgerald said, explaining that his team and Portland, which won last year's WCC Tournament and automatic NCAA berth, have been weakened by injuries to key players. "But Santa Clara could still get in there. Their worst game is, what, a close win over Eastern Washington? They've lost to Kansas, Fresno State and at Indiana. And they probably have the league's best win (over Alabama).

After nearly 15 seasons as Gonzaga's head men's basketball coach, Dan Fitzgerald claims to be running low on fire and brimstone. But he mustered up enough disgust over his team's uninspired first-half performance against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday night to fuel at least one more halftime tirade.