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NCAA Tournament Recap (Rhode Island-Nc Charlotte)
Posted: Fri March 12, 1999 at 8:38 p.m. EST MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- North Carolina-Charlotte won the battle of supporting casts and this time was able to pull out an overtime victory in the NCAA Tournament. Jobey Thomas' drilled a huge 3-pointer at the end of regulation and Marlon Thomas hit one early in overtime to propel the fifth-seeded 49ers to an 81-70 victory over Rhode Island in a first-round Midwest Region contest. Antonio Reynolds-Dean's follow shot with 13 seconds left in the second half tied it 65-65. Marlon Thomas opened the scoring in the extra session with a follow shot, and after Preston Murphy hit the second of two free throws for Rhode Island, he drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to ignite a game-clinching 10-0 run. "I'm extremely pleased to survive an overtime game with Rhode Island," 49ers coach Bobby Lutz said. "We didn't play our best offensive basketball. In fact, it's the worst we've played in a while. But again, you have to give them some credit." Galen Young tallied 17 points and 10 rebounds and Kelvin Price added 15 and 11 for North Carolina-Charlotte (23-10), which was forced to play a majority of the first half without its best outside shooter, Diego Guervara, who was hampered with foul trouble. "This is tournament basketball and anything can happen, Young said. "We still didn't shoot too well this game. We had to dig deep and we stepped it up when we had too." Guervara scored all 11 of his points in the second half and overtime, including four during an 8-0 run midway through the period as the 49ers turned a three-point deficit into a 51-46 lead. Meanwhile, Rhode Island (20-13) watched star forward Lamar Odom pick up his third foul midway through the first half and his fourth with 12:53 left in regulation. He had 16 points and 13 rebounds but was extremely tentative and never his dominant self. "I tried my best tonight," Odom said. "And I got into some foul trouble, so it took me out of my rhythm a litte bit. "I surely didn't want to force anything. They did a great job on defense." "It was a great game," said Rhode Island coach Jim Harrick, who took the Rams to the regional final last season. "They (NC-Charlotte) played good. They have a real nice team. They're well coached. It could have gone either way with a bounce. It didn't go our way, so you've got to give them the credit." NC-Charlotte will play 13th-seeded Oklahoma in the second round Sunday. The 49ers were knocked out of last season's tournament in the second round by top-seeded North Carolina, 93-83, in overtime in the East Region. The game was tied, 56-56, with just under six minutes left after Luther Clay connected on a pair of free throws for Rhode Island. Tremaine Gardiner scored twice over the next minute as the 49ers grabbed a four-point advantage, but Rhode Island quickly tied it as Odom hit the second of two free throws and completed a three-point play with 3:59 remaining. Following a timeout, Tip Vinson gave the Rams a 63-60 lead by drilling a 3-pointer from the left wing, but Price's follow shot brought NC-Charlotte within a point. After Murphy missed a 3-pointer with one minute left, Marlon Thomas drove into the lange and dished to the left wing for freshman and Charlotte native Jobey Thomas, who calmly drained the 3-poiner to make it 65-63 with 35 seconds left. Reynolds-Dean tied the game, and Jobey Thomas had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but his short jumper from the left corner rimmed out as the teams went to overtime. "In the second half, I thought we were much better," said Lutz. "We were very active on the boards in the second half and in overtime. We did a phenomenal job battling with their inside players. We did a marvelous job on Lamar (Odom)." After Thomas' 3-pointer in overtime, Price powered his way up for a basket, giving the 49ers a 72-66 advantage with 1:23 to play. Kedric Smith hit four free throws over a 32-second span and Guevara another one free throw as NC-Charlotte pulled away. Marlon Thomas scored 13 points and Gardiner pulled down 10 rebounds for NC-Charlotte, which used a 51-42 advantage on the boards to overcome a 36 percent (26-of-73) shooting peformance. The 49ers connected on 7-of-25 from 3-point range and were 22-of-29 from the line. "We were real tired and we came out a little sluggish and missed a lot of shots," Marlon Thomas said. "I'm a senior and every game can be my last game, so I'll play it as such." Reyonolds-Dean and Clay netted 12 points apiece for the Rams, who shot 41 percent (26-for-73) and made just 3-of-15 from 3-point range. Rhode Island committed 15 turnovers while forcing the 49ers into only 10. "It's been a wild ride for four years with three NCAA appearances with last year being the most successful," Reynolds-Dean said. "It didn't end like I wanted it to."© 2000 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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