The wide-open NCAA East Regional produced a mixed bag of results on Saturday, as well as one of the greatest individual March performances by a newcomer to the fray:
USCIENCES 73 ST. ANSELM 57
Regional Player of the Year and Academic All-American Garret Kerr exploded for a career-high 40 points in as many minutes and added 14 rebounds in his NCAA debut, leading #18 University of the Sciences to a convincing triumph over perennial power St Anselm in Springfield… the program’s initial NCAA appearance and first-ever win in a national tournament (it had lost all four prior NAIA tourney games when known as Philadelphia Pharmacy). After a sluggish start, the three-time CACC Player of the Year caught fire at end of the half with eight straight points, including a contested 3-pointer just before the buzzer that capped a 13-4 flourish and gave the Devils a 33-21 lead at the break. The story was the same when play resumed as back-to-back Kerr jumpers topped off an 8-2 Sciences spurt that stretched the lead to 41-23. The Hawks – fueled by Chris Santo’s 14 second-half points – showed a brief bit of life, countering with a 17-6 spurt to draw within 47-40 after a lay-up by the NE-10 Player of the Year with 8:37 to play. They would get no closer, however, as Sho Da-Silva (15 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots off the bench) scored on a driving lay-up and Kerr added a 3-point play to boost the gap to 12, and St. A’s never came within single digits again, thanks in part to the Devils’ 9-of-12 showing at the foul line down the stretch. Kerr – who shot 15-for-29 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the stripe – picked up his national-best 26th double-double of the season and 88th of his brilliant career as he is now second in the country in scoring and third in rebounding. Flo Da-Silva was also a force in a reserve role with 11 points (3-4 FG) and three steals for USciences, which outscored its first-time opponent 20-8 off turnovers. Santo finished his spectacular career with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Victor Joshua (six assists) and Roy Mabrey (nine boards) each dropped a dozen in defeat, the latter in his collegiate finale. Neither team shot it well from long range (US 3-10, SAC 2-18). Kerr becomes the first player to amass 40 points in a regional tournament game in 20 years... the last player to turn the trick being super-talented point guard Rob Paternostro of New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire University), who racked up 44 in an overtime victory over Saint Rose in 1995. And as fate would have it, the Devils will play SNHU in this evening’s semifinals.
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL 58 PHILADELPHIA 53
Bobby Harris’ driving lay-up with 30 seconds left triggered a 6-0 game-ending upswing as top-seeded American International survived a major scare from Philadelphia in a battle of two conference tourney champs on four-game winning streaks. Legendary coach Herb Magee, whose plaque resides across town in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, had his Rams within seconds of becoming the first 8-seed ever to knock off a #1 in this region as the visitors calmly built a couple of 11-point leads late in the opening period. The Yellow Jackets - who improve to 4-0 vs. the CACC this winter - erased a 33-26 halftime deficit with an 8-0 opening charge, edging in front on a lay-up by Cameron Dobbs (10 points), but Philly U. answered with an 11-4 flurry, reclaiming the advantage at 44-38 following a pair of free throws by Peter Alexis (12 points, 5-6 FG, nine rebounds) at the 7:20 mark. The game tightened up down the stretch, with AIC equalizing at 48-48 on a Harris three (6:44), Philadelphia going back on top, 51-48, on a Nick Schlitzer triple (5:03) and the hosts tallying the next four to jump in front, 53-52, on two Dobbs foul shots (2:56). Alexis’ weak-side put-back with 1:33 remaining put the Rams back in the lead, but they wasted a chance to tack on as T.J. Huggins (eight points, seven rebounds) missed the front end of a one-and-one with 56 seconds to go, leading to Harris’ power move to the hoop. Out of a timeout, Schlitzer let fly with a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 15 seconds on the clock but Trahmier Burrell got a piece of the shot, which came up short of the rim and landed in Harris’ hands. He was fouled and converted both of his attempts to make it 56-53. Derek Johnson’s well-defended 3-point attempt to tie was short and Marcus Porter clinched the victory at the foul line with 1.9 seconds to play. Harris led a balanced Jackets attack with 17 points and four assists, with Porter (13 points, eight rebounds) and Burrell (12, 10) adding strong support in the program’s first NCAA victory since 1994. Johnson generated 16 points and seven rebounds for the Rams, who fell in the first round for a third straight time, all in heartbreaking fashion (the last two occasions were one-point losses to Franklin Pierce). Schlitzer closed out his outstanding career with 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting. Neither team lit it up from the floor (40% each) and were even icier from beyond the arc (AIC 4-21, PU 5-20). The game featured zero points from the respective benches, whose only shot attempt all game was a half-court heave at the end of the first half.
SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT 88 BRIDGEPORT 75
Michael Mallory came alive with 24 points (9-15 FG, 4-6 from distance) off the bench while Desmond Williams (14 rebounds) and Tylon Smith (six boards, four assists) each collected 19 in leading defending regional champion Southern Connecticut past Nutmeg State rival Bridgeport in an entertaining 4-5 game. The Owls showed no rust at all from a two-week lay-off as they used a 10-0 spurt to flip an 11-9 deficit into a 19-11 lead they would never relinquish. Still, the Purple Knights – who had won nine in a row coming in – hung around all night, even after falling behind by a dozen on five separate occasions during the first five minutes of the second half. Led by Willie Williams III’s dynamic 30-point, 13-rebound performance in his swan song, Bridgeport clawed its way to within 71-67 with 5:43 left before Mallory knocked down jumpers on back-to-back possessions to spark a 9-0 run and open up a game-high 13-point bulge (80-67) with 2:58 remaining. The P-Knights – who were playing their former NECC rivals for a remarkable 10th time in four years, including a second straight March – showed late life by rattling off eight in a row and slashing their deficit to 80-75 following an inside basket by Williams with 1:16 on the clock. Smith’s fast-break lay-up just 10 seconds later proved the backbreaker, however, as the Owls closed out the contest with an 8-0 spurt of their own to wrap up a fourth straight regional victory and secure a date with host American International in tonight’s semifinal round (they lost both regular-season games to AIC). Luke Houston produced 10 points and four assists for the winners, who shot it better (48%-38%) and were a perfect 14-for-14 at the line (UB was a strong 19-24) while dishing out nearly twice as many assists (17-9). Jesse Jones logged 19 points off the bench in a losing effort.
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE 71 STONEHILL 59
The only game that pitted conference opponents saw second-seeded Southern New Hampshire use a 17-1, game-ending surge to upend upset-minded Stonehill, completing a three-game sweep on the season. This was a real dogfight for the Penmen, who trailed 21-11 early on and only enjoyed the lead for 10 seconds of the first half, which ended in a 31-31 deadlock. Nine lead changes underscored a super-competitive second stanza that saw neither team provide more than a five-point separation until the final 1:14. The Skyhawks found themselves ahead 58-54 after a Ryan Logan lay-up with 4:41 to go, but that would prove to be the last hoop for The Hill, as poor shooting (0-7) and three untimely turnovers sealed their fate. B.J. Cardarelli (15 points, 3-5 from deep) and Elijah Bonsignore (11 points) knocked down huge trifectas within the span of a minute to wipe out the deficit, and SNHU nailed all seven of its freebies in crunch time to win going away, making the final 12-point spread highly deceptive. Devin Gilligan was terrific in a reserve role for the Penmen, totaling 17 points (6-9 FG) and nine rebounds to lead five in double figures. Aleksandar Dobrovic (12 points) and Rodney Sanders (11 points, five assists) also chimed in for the victors, who won the glass (33-22) and scored twice as often off mistakes (18-9) to provide the difference. Carter Smith registered 14 points for Stonehill, which also received 10 points apiece from Logan (six rebounds) and backup forward Pierce Cumpstone.