Columnist Dean Juipe: CCSN keeps the pedal to the metal

Dean Juipe

Monday, Dec. 23, 2002 | 9:55 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

There wasn't a hundred people in the building, yet those who were there witnessed a sight that may have had to be seen to be believed.

And for those who missed it, there will be other chances. Because apparently every time the men's basketball team from the Community College of Southern Nevada plays, pandemonium is the order of the day.

I took in Sunday night's 93-88 victory over Hancock College of Santa Maria, Calif., at the UNLV South Gym and I'm here to tell you the pace of play was absolutely astonishing.

To say the tempo was brisk would be to understate it tenfold.

It was hectic.

Harried.

Frantic.

And it had an intensity to match.

The Coyotes are in their first year of existence, but, with them, time flies. Not only are they almost halfway through their inaugural season, their games are played in a comparative blink of an eye.

Tired of sporting events that seemingly last forever and take an abbreviated lifetime to play? Seen enough NFL games over the weekend that went in excess of three hours?

Well, from start to finish, CCSN's most recent victory took precisely 100 minutes to play. That's right: one hour and 40 minutes and everyone was out the door and happy, excited and content.

It was acceleration and exhilaration. It was shoot first and ask questions later, and a swarming defense that could have outrun even the swiftest pack of bees.

Whew: CCSN can run.

Speed, it's safe to say, is head coach George Tarkanian's top priority, as this is a team of sprinters and 100-meter dash specialists. And when the Coyotes meet up with someone willing to play the same game, as was the case with Hancock, it's a track meet with a round ball as an elusive toy.

CCSN is 12-4, has eight home games yet to play and hopes to have a key addition when it resumes its schedule after the first of the year. Highly regarded Daniel Artest -- whose brother, Ron, is a budding star for the Indiana Pacers in the NBA -- has played two games but was held out Sunday as the paperwork pertaining to his eligibility needed some tweeking.

If he's yet another Coyote who can scamper as if he's oblivious to oxygen, this team will have added a scorer and shortened its list of weaknesses, which, best I can tell, is strictly a lack of widespread height.

But collective size is a detriment only when it isn't offset by a team's collective heart, and CCSN has no shortage of get up and go. Its batteries are charged and there are sparkplugs throughout the lineup.

Nick Porter and Brian Lang were more than the visiting Bulldogs could handle and they secured what had been a nip-and-tuck game with big shots in the final minute. Porter hit a three to put CCSN up for good, 89-88, and Lang and Denarryl Rice each followed with a pair of free throws in the final 17 seconds to ice the team's third win in as many nights.

It was a good, competitive game played by athletic guys who wanted to win. Just as importantly, it spoke well for the newly minted program and for the route it has chosen to go.

Go see for yourself sometime.