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Controversial crown Eastern Illinois takes NCAA bid on goaltending call
Updated: Saturday March 03, 2001 8:44 PM
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Eastern Illinois coach Rick Samuels is certain Saturday's goaltending call that gave his team its first Ohio Valley Conference championship was correct. And if it wasn't, he thinks his team deserved to win anyway. "I have no doubt. No doubt whatsoever. You get breaks and you don't get breaks," he said. "Frankly, if it wasn't [a violation] and it was a break, we deserve it. We worked hard. We put it in position to give ourselves a chance to win." Jan Thompson's last-second jump shot was knocked away by Austin Peay's Theanthony Haymon and goaltending was called, helping Eastern Illinois (21-9) to an 84-83 victory over Austin Peay (22-10). The win earns Eastern Illinois its first trip to the NCAA tournament in nine years -- and the first since joining the OVC in 1996. Haymon and his Austin Peay teammates weren't so sure of the officials' call. "I felt like it was a good block. I tried to time it when it left his hand," Haymon said. "But that's not the way they called it." Austin Peay coach Dave Loos wouldn't comment on the call, but said his team beat themselves. "This is a devastating loss, I really don't know how to explain it," Loos said. "The problem was our shots just didn't go in. We made too many mistakes on the offensive end." Fourth-seeded Austin Peay dominated throughout, leading by as many as 21 on several occasions in the second half. They outperformed Eastern Illinois on the boards, 38 to 26, and led on every point of the game until the final margin. A 3-pointer by the Panthers' Kyle Hill with 6:40 remaining sparked a 10-0 run that signaled Eastern Illinois's comeback. Hill capped the run with a 3-pointer that pulled his team within 78-70. He had 31 points in the game. "Coach [Troy] Collier said to get it under 10 points with four minutes to go. Then we tried to get it to within seven, then five, then three," Hill said. "This has been a never-say-die, fun-to-watch season and we get to watch it into the NCAA Tournament." Austin Peay still had a chance to pad its lead, but Matt Jakeway missed a 3-pointer with under 25 seconds remaining. Eastern Illinois got the ball back and set up the final sequence. It seemed the Governors had the game locked up after a 10-point run keyed by six points by Jakeway gave them a 47-27 lead with 12:12 to go. "We quit playing hard for a stretch in the second half and weren't aggressive," Loos said. "We were up 18 with nine minutes to go, and you've got to hang on to that." Henry Domercant added 20 points for Eastern Illinois. Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year Trenton Hassell led the Governors with 21 points, while Joe Williams had 20, Haymon 18 and Nick Stapleton 11.
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