 |
| |
|
 |
 |
|
|
SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- Wilmington, North Carolina is more than Michael Jordan's hometown. Craig Callahan and Brett Blizzard each scored 18 points as No. 13 North Carolina-Wilmington let a 19-point lead slip away before posting a 93-89 overtime upset of fourth-seeded Southern California in a thrilling first-round South Region matchup. NC-Wilmington (23-9) held a 62-43 lead with 11:35 left in regulation before the Trojans rallied. Freshman Errick Craven's 3-pointer with seven seconds left capped a last-ditch 17-2 run and forged an 80-80 tie at the end of the second half. Craven drilled another 3-pointer for an 83-83 tie before Tim Burnette's basket gave the Seahawks the lead for good. Stewart Hare followed with a ferocious two-handed dunk over two Trojans for a four-point advantage with 45 seconds left. "That dunk, it was breathtaking," Seahawks forward Ed Williams said. "I could go watch that dunk seven or eight times." Desmon Farmer's 3-pointer with three seconds left cut the deficit to 91-89, but USC was forced to foul Blizzard. The junior guard calmly drained two free throws to give the Seahawks their first NCAA Tournament victory in their second appearance. "Everybody doubted us but ourselves," Blizzard said. "That's all that matters. We came here with the right attitude. We didn't come here with cameras like the first year." NC-Wilmington scored the final seven points of the first half for a 37-28 lead and went on a 14-4 run to open the second half. Hare's 3-pointer capped the spurt for a 51-32 advantage. The lead was still 19 after Williams drained two foul shots with 11:35 left for a 62-43 cushion. Up until that point, the Seahawks had shredded the press of the Trojans. "Once we got past the hard part of the press and got to the softer side of the press, we really tried to move the ball and get a good quality shot, and that is what we did," Williams said. The Seahawks self-destructed down the stretch in regulation but still had an 80-77 lead after Burnette made 1-of-2 from the line with 22 seconds left. The Trojans went to Craven, who drilled his jumper from the right side to seemingly give them new life. "I felt we had some momentum going into overtime, coming all the way back, but we missed some easy baskets," USC point guard Brandon Granville said. "We did not make the plays down the stretch." The shot seemed to drain the energy out of the underdog Seahawks, but they responded in the extra session. "There are times in your life when you are called upon to really look deep," NC-Wilmington coach Jerry Wainwright said. "So when that ball went in to tie the game up and we all sat there, you have to ask yourself the question, 'How bad do you want it?' "I told the kids that if somebody would have told us that all we had to do was play a five-minute game to advance to the round of 32, we would jump at that chance." Williams netted 13 points and Hare and Anthony Terrell each added 11 for NC-Wilmington, the champion of the Colonial Athletic Association. The smaller Seahawks held a 39-37 edge on the glass. Sam Clancy fouled out with 21 points in his final game to lead USC, which had three senior starters disqualified. David Bluthenthal fouled out with 19 points and Granville added 14. "The better team won," USC coach Henry Bibby said. "I don't think anyone at SC has anything to hang their heads about. The press carried us all year and it tricked a lot of people. Sometimes it catches up to you." Granville had eight of the Trojans' 18 turnovers. USC also hurt itself at the free-throw line, making only 64 percent (25-of-39). NC-Wilmington will face fifth-seeded Indiana in the second round. |
|
||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
