Robbins, VUU take third Div. II men's hoops crown
Virginia Union does it again!!!
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
Playing at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N. D., site of this year's Div. II Elite Eight, and before a national television audience on CBS, the Panthers (30-4) finished off a dominating stretch that included the CIAA and South Atlantic Region Tournament titles and double-digit victories in the national quarterfinals over Metro State (78-63) and in the semifinals over Lynn (76-61).
"I can't say how proud we are to represent our conference (CIAA) and our region," said the victorious Robbins, who also earned national titles in 1980 and 1992. Robbins becomes the only coach to win Div. II national titles in three decades and is only the third coach with three D2 crowns overall.
The Panthers, who pulled away in the second half to wins in their first two games in North Dakota, could not shake Bryant (25-9), a small school of just over 2,000 students from Smithfield, R. I., out of the New England 10 Conference.
Duan Crockett's eight first-half points helped stake Union to an early lead and they settled for a 24-22 margin at the break. Bryant got inspired play from reserve guard Chris Burns, who canned three 3-pointers early in the second half to keep the Bulldogs close.
The Panther's maintained a slim lead until Mario Correia's 3-pointer gave Bryant a 50-49 edge with 9:59 to play. It would be the Bulldogs' first lead since they went up 7-6 in the early going and would be their only lead of the second half.
VUU responded with a 9-0 run to go back up 58-50 before the Bulldogs' matched it. Burn's fourth three-pointer of the half capped an 8-0 run that pulled them even at 58 with 2:31 to play and set up the exciting finish. But those were to be Bryant's final points.
Last-minute and second half heroics fell to 6-4 Panther forward Antwan Walton, who drove to the basket and hit a hanging shot with 1:29 left, was fouled on the play and converted the free throw to give Union a 61-58 lead.
Bryant missed a 3-pointer on its first opportunity to tie and then fouled Crockett with 37 seconds left. The slender 6-6 forward missed the front end of the one-and-one and the Bulldogs rebounded. Correia's 3-point try with 12 seconds left was rebounded by Bryant's Mike Williams who called a timeout with just seven seconds on the clock.
When play resumed, point guard Luqman Jaaber blocked and stole a pass out of the corner from Bryant's Cullen McCarthy was fouled and subsequently sank two free throws that sealed the win.
Walton scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the second half and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to earn the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. Swingman Duan Crockett was the only other Panther in double figures with 12 points. Jaaber and Crockett joined Walton on the all-Tournament team.
"He's a baby Ben (Wallace)," said Robbins of Walton, who scored 14 points and also grabbed 13 rebounds, 12 of them on the offensive end, in Wednesday's quarterfinal win. Walton also had ten points and seven rebounds in the semifinals.
Burns finished with a game-high 24 points including six 3-pointers to pace Bryant. Correia tallied 14 points while star guard John Williams, the focus of much of the Panthers' defense, had 12 points but converted only four of 15 shots, including two of 11 from behind the arc.
In the final analysis, it was the contributions of all the members of Robbins' small, but talented, feisty and consistent squad that delivered them the championship.
CIAA Tournament and South Atlantic Region MVP Darius Hargrove had a 28-point outburst in the quarterfinal win but only ten and eight points in the final two games.
Crockett was the steady guy, scoring in double-figures in each game (16, 16 and 12) and proving to be equally effective on the boards with nine, nine and six rebounds in the three contests.
Jaaber, the consummate point guard, directed and led the Panthers on both ends of the floor, getting key steals and scores while constantly harassing the opposition with his quickness. Jaaber had nine points and three assists in both the quarterfinal and final games, but exploded for 19 points and seven assists in the semifinals.
Slender 6-6 power forward Ralph Brown did yeoman's work battling bigger and bulkier players underneath, often throwing his 190-pound frame and caution to the wind.
The players on Robbins' bench however were just as big, providing key minutes, clutch baskets and overall sound play. Long-range sharpshooters Arthur Kidd and Quincy Smith filled their roles as did backcourt reserves Steve Miller and Lantice Green. Six-nine senior Chris Moore allowed the Panthers to match up with the bigger teams as did 6-8 junior Justin Wingfield and 6-6 freshman Phillip Moore.
"These young men are very, very good," said Robbins. "For them to win 30 games is huge. These young men deserve everything you say nice about them."
NOTES:
Virginia Union canned 54 of 61 free throws during the three games of
the Elite Eight, an 88.5% clip. The Panthers hit 18 of 20 in both the quarterfinal
and semifinal games and 18 of 21 in the championship game.
"That won the game for us," said Robbins.
The CIAA has now won five men's NCAA Div. II national basketball
titles. In addition to the three won by Robbins and Virginia Union,
Winston-Salem State with Earl "The Pearl" Monroe and under Clarence "Big
House" Gaines won the 1967 crown.
North Carolina Central under Mike
Bernard captured the 1989 title. CIAA women's teams have won two titles,
Virginia Union (Louis Hearn) in 1983
and Hampton (James Sweat) 1988.
© 2005 Azeez Communications, Inc.