|
Metro ends Huskies' dream year
Men's basketball team loses in second round of NCAA tourney despite valiant effort
 Media Credit: Adam Masloski The Husky men�s basketball team hoists their trophy after winning the Wells Fargo NCC championship game, 88-78 over the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Mar. 8. SCSU advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Metropolitan State, 75-63.
|
|
KEARNEY, NEB. - All good things must come to an end.
The SCSU men's basketball team wanted to end their 2002-03 season on the highest note possible with a trip to the Elite Eight in Lakeland, Fla. However, their surprise season ended last Saturday with a hard-fought 75-63 loss to defending Division II national champion Metropolitan State at the Health & Sports Center on the University of Nebraska-Kearney (pronounced car-knee) campus.
The loss in the second round of the North Central Regional semifinals ended the Huskies (26-5) best season since their 1987-88 campaign.
Things looked bleak for SCSU right off the bat as Metro State employed a smothering press and tenacious perimeter defense to irritate the Husky offense. The Roadrunners forced 10 first half SCSU turnovers and ran out to a large 32-19 lead at the half.
Metro shot 46 percent in the first and used 15 points from junior guard Luke Kendall to their advantage. The Huskies shot a putrid 33 percent and were hit hard on the boards being outrebounded 18-13. They were also hurt by their mistakes as the runners up in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference outscored SCSU 16-6 in points off turnovers.
"In the first half we were on our heels," SCSU point guard Alex Carlson said. "Their double teams and defense attacked us. We weren't getting good shots because of that."
"They really extended things and got after you high out on the court," senior forward Jason Kron said. "The NCC is a physical conference, but more so inside. They were physical all over. Their quickness and length gave us trouble. We just could not get the ball inside. We were forced to play on the perimeter the whole time. That limited any good looks in the first half."
Despite their worst first half output of the year, the Huskies responded in the second with the true grit that had defined their season. Trailing by as much as 16 early in the second, the Huskies began to make their move midway through the half. St. Cloud cut Metro's lead to single digits when Kron connected on a three-pointer with 8:54 remaining to make the score 51-42.
However, just like they had the entire game, the Roadrunners responded every time the Huskies tried to get back into the game. Kendall connected on a jumper the very next time down the floor to build the lead back to double digits. SCSU would get as close as four points on three occasions, the last being when sixth man Nate Miller nailed one from downtown with :53.4 seconds left to make it 67-63. SCSU wouldn't score the rest of the way though as Metro hit their free throws and the Huskies couldn't connect on any desperation shots.
Kron said that Metro's experience in the NCAA postseason was evident with the way they wouldn't relinquish the lead.
"Their experience showed throughout the game," Kron said. "They made the plays when they had to. We tried to change the tempo of the game in the second half. We forced some turnovers which jumpstarted our offense. Getting the tempo into our favor helped us. If we could have adjusted a little earlier maybe the game would have had a different outcome."
"They had the momentum at the end of the game," Metro head coach Mike Dunlap said. "We just held them off. God knows what the outcome of the game would have been if there were five more minutes left in that game."
Kron, in his final game as a Husky, led the way with a valiant 26-point, 13-rebound performance. Miller added 13 points and Forrest Witt, also in his finale for SCSU, had 10.
Center Lester Strong led Metro with 23 points and 14 rebounds. There was no one for the Huskies to match the physicality and athleticism of both Strong and forward Patrick Mutombo, who had 11 points.
"They didn't have a Lester tonight," Dunlap said.
"He was the difference-maker in my opinion."
Kendall finished with 19 points, Roadrunner point guard Clayton Smith dished out a Stockton-like 14 assists and junior forward Jamar Bohannon added 12 points.
SCSU finished the game shooting 34 percent while Metro ended up with a solid 54 percent. The domination by the Roadrunners in the paint was evident by their 34-14 scoring advantage in the trenches. They also held a 22-3 advantage in fast break points and finished with a 24-15 edge in points off turnovers. The Huskies did manage to scrounge up a 36-34 win on the glass.
Head coach Kevin Schlagel wasn't down about his team's performance after the game however. An emotional Schlagel, who rarely emits any, admitted that this season was special.
"Tonight we played hard, but unfortunately we made too many mistakes to warrant a win," Schlagel said. "I couldn't be prouder, I couldn't be happier and this has been one of the funnest seasons I've ever had."
Friday the Huskies downed NCC-rival, the University of North Dakota, for the second time in three games this season with a 74-69 triumph in the North Central quarterfinals. UND trailed most of the game but trailed by only one after two Mario Porter free throws cut the SCSU lead to 68-67 with two minutes remaining. Nevertheless, the next time down court the Huskies countered with a designed play for Kron, who nailed the shot in traffic to up the lead to 70-67.
UND senior center Jerome Beasley missed on the next possession and Witt made two free throws after he was fouled by Jade Jahner to effectively put the game out of reach.
Kron said his basket was designed to draw the intimidating 6-foot-10 presence of Beasley out of the paint.
"We were trying to spread the floor as much as we could to try and draw him out," Kron said. "We were trying to draw him away from the basket. At that point, we knew we had to get it inside. Plus, we were in the bonus so we were trying to get to the free throw line."
Beasley led the "Fighting Sioux" in his final performance with an astounding 37 points and 10 rebounds. He also had five eye-popping dunks, including serving up a tomahawk on a baseline drop-step early in the first half over a helpless Cullen Powers.
"I hope that the Lakers and those people have trouble guarding him like we do," Schlagel said after facing the NBA-bound Beasley for the third and final time this season. "He's the best offensive player I've ever seen in the NCC. With his size, no one guy in our league is going to be able to handle him. It'll be interesting to see how far he can go at the next level."
Porter finished with 19 points and Mike Johnson contributed 11 for UND. The SCSU defense held the "Sioux" to only 1 of 14 shooting from beyond the arc for the game.
Kron again led SCSU with 17 points. Carlson had 16, Witt 13 and Miller 12. The Huskies shot 46 percent and outrebounded UND 34-29. The Huskies also connected on 24 of 27 attempts from the free throw line.
Around the Rim
-Dunlap on Kron: "We knew that he was the heart and soul of their team. We impressed that on our players. We knew that he would come hard and fast in the second half because his team was hemorrhaging. We couldn't keep him off the glass. I'd sure like to have him."
-UND coach Rich Glas on SCSU's season: "They make the plays when they have to make them. They have some guys who know how to win. They figure out a way to get it done. They got it done again. They've had a heck of a year."
-The top-seed Nebraska-Kearney Lopers defeated Metro in Monday's North Central Regional final in double overtime, 94-87. The school's Web site is calling it the "Game of the Century." The Roadrunners had ended UNK's season the previous four years.
-SCSU tied the school record for wins in a season with 26. They reached 26 wins during the 1985-86 and 1987-88 seasons.
-The Huskies finished ranked No. 19 in the final NABC/Division II Bulletin national poll. Metro finished ranked No. 2, Kearney No. 8 and South Dakota State ended up at No. 21.
|
|
|
|
Privacy Policy Network Advertising Article Syndication
|
|
