TRACY MAPLE/Special to The Acorn ON POINT- Cal Lutheran junior point guard Chad Acerboni dribbles down the court during a game earlier this season. Acerboni was a standout at TOHS before attending Moorpark College. As has been his manner of playing basketball since before entering high school, Chad Acerboni seems to be at the spot on the court where he can help out his team the most.

This season the junior marketing communication major is the starting point guard for the NCAA Division III Cal Lutheran University Kingsmen.

He is the son of Craig and Marianne Acerboni, and his brother, Justin, is a senior at Thousand Oaks High.

"I like to think of myself as versatile," Acerboni said. "Whatever's going on in the game, if we need this, I want to do that, be kind of a complete player. I don't want to be a onesided player."

Through Saturday, he was the team's fifth leading scorer, averaging 7.9 points, 3.2 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 28.9 minutes while playing in all 19 of CLU's games.

CLU head basketball coach Rich Rider describes Acerboni as a "major minute guy," adding, "he's going to be on the floor a lot for us. He provides leadership. The guys know that if they're open, they're going to get the ball from Chad.

"He's probably our best- if not one of our best- defense player. We assign him to the top scorer on the opposing team usually," the coach said.

Rider said that the Kingsmen have won some games because Acerboni has shut down the opposing team's leading scorer.

"He's certainly limited him, (and) in one way that's his big contribution," Rider said. "We have a lot of guys on this team who can score. We seem to be taking turns on who's leading us in scoring."

Acerboni's best game this season was on Jan. 3 when CLU hosted the Messiah College Falcons of Grantham, Pa. He scored 25 points while connecting on seven-of-10 3-pointers, had five rebounds and five assists. CLU won 71-66.

"On our team, every night someone steps up, someone different. It just happened to be me," he said. "Everything I was putting up there was going in. It was confidence, too. We were playing a decent team. They were talented."

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound, 2004 Thousand Oaks High graduate and three-year varsity player for the Lancers wears uniform No. 3 at CLU, as he did during his junior and senior years at Thousand Oaks and as a freshman during the 200405 season for the Moorpark College Raiders.

Thousand Oaks head basketball coach Rich Endres appreciated seeing Acerboni through his high school playing days.

"He was the type of kid that you would call a 'gym rat,'" Endres said. "He was a kid who spent extra time in practice, loved basketball, loved to talk about basketball. He was a kid who could shoot."

Remy McCarthy, Moorpark College head basketball coach for whom Acerboni played a season, said that the opponents' physicality is the biggest adjustment for all players during their first year of college sports.

"The kids are bigger and stronger, and if you are not strong, the kids will take the ball away from you," he said.

"We started off 2-7 and went to the regional finals. I was proud of that team that they stuck it out. He came from a successful high school program, and he did a great job for us."

McCarthy said he was also impressed by how Acerboni made it a point to befriend several of the out-of-state players.

"He had them to his house for Thanksgiving, and we had the team banquet at Chad's house," McCarthy said. "Those kinds of things are critical to your success. The kids know that they all care about each other."

Acerboni said that at Moorpark he played against some players who were a little bit more athletic.

"The motion offense that we constantly ran at Moorpark, it would be one-on-one type stuff," he said. "Your athletic ability would make you succeed. Here (at Cal Lutheran), it's an overall team thing."

Endres said that from the time he first saw Acerboni play, he was a very confident young man.

"You think everybody wants the basketball during crunch time," he said. "(In reality) a lot of people want to pass that responsibility on to somebody else. He was willing to take the responsibility if given the chance."

Rider watched Acerboni play in high school and even prior to that.

"We've had our eye on Chad for a long time," he said. "He attended the Lu Dawg basketball camps. We were very familiar with him. We watched him grow up through junior high and watched him at Thousand Oaks. I've always liked his game. He was very much a competitor. He always worked hard and had a strong desire to win."

Acerboni said he attended Moorpark College out of high school to test the college waters.

"I went to Moorpark. It was local still," he said. "Coach Rider was still after me and said I could come (to CLU in 2005). I did. It was about what was going on over here, a new building (Gilbert Arena), and the school was starting to explode, expand a little bit."

Rider and the CLU team are happy that Acerboni chose to remain in Thousand Oaks.

"He brought- besides size and good skills- a competitive heart; he brought a competitive desire to our team," Rider said.

"That's been infectious. He's helped out a lot with the other guys, and they've picked it up. He's never backed away from a challenge. Whether it's a big game or whatever, he's always accepted the role and been very much a strong competitor."

Acerboni realizes being a studentathlete at CLU is a good opportunity.

"I like a small school type of an atmosphere," he said. "The education is good. It's worked out pretty well."