WAC Suspends Kambala

Steve Carp

Thursday, Feb. 5, 1998 | 7:30 a.m.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- This isn't Bill Bayno's idea of getting the second half of the conference season off to a fast start.

Bayno's UNLV club, which struggled through a 2-5 first half in the WAC Mountain Division, will begin the second round of league action tonight at Air Force without Kaspars Kambala, the Rebels' second-leading scorer and top rebounder.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson Wednesday suspended Kambala for one game after reviewing the game tape of last Saturday's UNLV-Wyoming contest in Laramie. Kambala was whistled for a flagrant foul and ejected with 5:38 to play in the second half after hitting Cowboys center Jeff Allen in the face after Allen threw the first punch.

Allen's nose was broken from the blow. Benson had not had a chance to look at the tape until late Tuesday because he was traveling from the Fresno State-Hawaii game.

"Normal procedure calls for any flagrant foul that calls for an ejection be reviewed by this office," Benson said Wednesday. "The reason I made this decision was there were two unsportsmanlike acts by Kambala. One that happened a play before that was not called and the incident that followed was called a flagrant foul."

Benson also reviewed the flagrant foul/ejection call on Rebels point guard Mark Dickel, which came with 12 seconds remaining. Dickel hit Wyoming's Gregg Sawyer with a combination elbow and forearm trying to set a screen.

However, Benson said Dickel's foul did not warrant a suspension.

"In my opinion, it was a hard screen, a collision," Benson said. "It was more of a basketball play than a malicious attempt to injure."

UNLV was expected to appeal Benson's ruling today and a 1 p.m. conference call of the WAC's executive committee is scheduled to review the appeal.

Bayno was not happy that his player has to sit out a game while Allen gets off without a penalty.

"Allen initiates all the pushing and shoving. He started the game in that frame of mind," Bayno said.

But the reality is the 10-10 Rebels are going to have to fill the void left by Kambala's absence. They'll have to make up for his 14 points and his 8.6 rebounds a game.

"Kas is pretty poker-faced about it," Bayno said of his freshman's reaction to the news. "He's not happy. But he understands there's nothing he can do about it."

Bayno said he wasn't sure how he would replace Kambala. One option is to start Issiah Epps at power forward and try to get some defensive tempo going. Another possibility is to start Kevin Simmons, who is coming off his best game as a Rebel with a 20-point second-half effort at Wyoming.

Or he could start Tyrone Nesby at the small forward spot and move Donovan Stewart to power forward. Or he can keep Stewart as the starter at the three and play Nesby at power forward.

Regardless of what he does, at least he has some flexibility.

One thing that won't change is the plan to do a better job defending Jarmica Reese. The former Chaparral High star lit up the Rebels for 40 points in UNLV's 88-77 win Jan. 10 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"We have to do a better job of denying him the ball and making sure we know where he is at all times," Bayno said. "It doesn't matter who guards him. Whoever it is has to stay with him."

When the Rebels have the ball, they must find a way to consistently make shots. It was one of the major problems during the first half of league play as UNLV suffered through too many prolonged droughts, especially on the road.

Hoop du jour

* FALCONS STRUGGLING: Air Force comes into tonight's game losers of five of its last six and part of the problem has been Jarmica Reese's struggles. The 6-3 senior from Chaparral High, who is averaging 20.4 points to lead the team, has averaged less than 12 in the last four Air Force defeats, including a season- low six last Thursday at Wyoming. Center Mike Freeman has tried to pick up the slack as he has been the Falcons' leading scorer in each of the last three games. ... UNLV, which has won only twice in nine tries on the road this year, is looking for its first WAC road win of the season. The Rebels last won a conference game away from the Thomas & Mack on Feb. 27, 1997, when they beat Wyoming in overtime, 75-69. ... UNLV leads the series with Air Force, 5-1, and beat the Falcons last year at Clune Arena, 72-59.

* BIG NIGHT FOR KEON?: Don't be surprised if Keon Clark puts on one of his best performances of the season tonight. Clark has enjoyed great success against Air Force, averaging 16 points and eight rebounds in three games with the Falcons. He also scored his career high, 28 points, against Air Force on Jan. 10.