NCAA Div. I Tournament review |
 FIGHTING: Hampton's LaSean Howard fights though two Georgetown defenders in Saturday's West Regional second round game in Boise. Howard had 14 points as Hampton's cinderella run was ended by the Hoyas, 76-57. |
The 15th-seeded Pirates pulled off the upset of the tournament as they defeated second-seeded Iowa State, 58-57 late Thursday night before a national TV audience on a last second shot by center Tarvis Williams. They then became darlings of the fans, not only with their play on the floor, but with the band rocking the stands (see related story).
Here's how they did it and how everyone fared.
The Pirates led 31-27 at the break but fell behind by 11 in the second half. They stormed back and took the lead with 6.9 seconds left on Williams' four-footer in the lane. ISU star Jamal Tinsley's layup at the buzzer under the outstretched arms of Williams trickled off the rim as time expired.
Williams led the Pirates with 16 points while point guard Marseilles Brown added 14.
Hampton tied the score at 16 midway through the first half on a Williams dunk but was outscored 26-6 over the final ten minutes of the half.
Williams, who got the attention of several pro scouts in attendance, had eight blocks to go along with his team-high 16 points. Brown had 12 and LaSean Howard 14.
 All Pro Photo MERFELD: Got Hampton to round of 32 with big win over Iowa State. |
It looked like a top seed (MSU) was ready to fall to a 16th seed (ASU) after the Spartans stumbled through the first half and led only 29-25 at the break. The Spartans however woke up in the second half and put the clamps on ASU, limiting them to only ten second half points. Included in that was a 26-0 run that covered 13:24 that ended with just 15.3 seconds to go on a three-point basket by ASU's Malcolm Campbell.
"It seems like we were stuck on 32 forever," said Spivery.
All-SWAC junior forward Tyrone Levett was the only Hornet who could manage double figures with 17 points.
After leading 10-6 and 13-11 early in the first half playing against the Notre Dame 2-3 zone, ASU had trouble when the Fighting Irish switched to a man-to-man defense. They gave up a 15-0 run that put them down 47-23 at the half and spend over 14 minutes without a field goal.
The Lady Braves shot a season-low 21.1 percent from the field including just nine of 41 from three-point range. SWAC Player of the Year Cherea Wood could only hit on four of 24 shots and finished with just nine points.
The Irish have five players over six-feet tall while ASU's tallest is 5-11.
"We jumped out pretty good but we had some problems with their height down low," said ASU head coach Shirley Walker. Taresha Coleman led ASU with 15 points.
The Lady Cyclones made sure there would be no repeat of that as they shot a blistering 70 percent from the floor in the first half to post a 30-point halftime lead (51-21) and then cruised to victory.
MEAC Player of the Year Andrea Gardner had only two points in the first half but came back to get 17 more after the break. Chanell Washinton led the Lady Bisons with 20.
© 2001 Azeez Communications, Inc.
