A DETAILED LOOK AT MY DAY AT THE ELITE-8 - IN REAL TIME
By Chris Granozio
EVANSVILLE, IN
11:31 – I roll into the Ford Center – my first visit since 2015 – and after picking up my credential, venture into the media workroom, where one thing immediately stands out to me: NO PAPER! It had been four years since my last Elite-8 in South Dakota, and among of the things I had come to depend on were stat packets and stacks of media guides. Welcome to the digital age. The hours I used to spend poring over all the team literature from all the clubs across the D2 landscape would even extend beyond my stay at the tournament. No such luck this time. Looks like I’ll have to depend on my laptop for all of today’s info.
11:36 – Across the hall is the media hospitality room, where there are two tables loaded with trays of cold cuts, bread, chips and other snacks. I grab a plate of turkey, cheddar cheese and tomato slices, as well as a bottled water from the fridge and head out to the floor. Need to find my spot amidst the courtside media tables. Turns out I’m on the sideline across from the Bentley bench, foul line extended – all the way out of bounds.
11:41 – Watching the two teams warming up, I shoot a couple of photos and tweet them to the website.
11:45 – Surveying the geography of the building, I notice the colorful banners of all the D2 champions, which are always displayed in chronological order at every Elite-8, the first in the series being Wheaton in 1957. I’ve covered roughly 20 Elite-8s in numerous states, and seeing the flags waver amid the arena breezes always grounds me somehow. I’m home. Favorite day of the hoops season for me, and since I’m a fan foremost and a report second, I feel truly blessed to have a front-row seat for all these teams – some of which I’ve seen up close over the years (IUP and Bentley this season) and the majority not. Watching the talent on the court and the coaches impart their wisdom on the sidelines never gets old. And I always make it a point to sit in on the postgame pressers. Will this be a jubilant Bentley news conference or a sad one? We’ll know in a couple of hours.
11:49 – As I finish my snack plate, I look up at the center-hung scoreboard. It seems to be a mile high and I have to crane my neck to read the starting five for both teams. To boot, the numbers on the clock are way too small. And there’s no time and score on the ribbons so I resign myself to rely on the readouts on the shot clock.
11:57 – Starting lineups are announced. The arena is virtually empty on a dark and rainy Tuesday afternoon. The Northwest Missouri State fans outnumber the Bentley fans by about a 4-1 ratio. Their trip was a lot shorter, though (507 miles to 1,095).
11:59 – the PA announcer keeps referring to our regional champs as BINTLEY. Love that Kentuckyana accent. He also introduced two Falcons out of order. Zach Laput and I may be the only souls in the building to notice.
12:01 The refs botch the opening tip. We’re off to a shaky start.
12:02 Colton Lawrence is called for a ticky-tack foul – one that never gets called in the NE10.
12:04 – The Falcons are 0-5 from the field and 0-2 from the line to start yet only trail 2-0 on a well-defended shot in the paint by defending D2 Player of the Year, Trevor Hudgins.
12:05 – I’m sitting next to Bentley’s awesome SID, Dick Lipe, who remarks to me that Bearcats starters Hudgins and Diego Bernard have played 136 and 133 career games, respectively, and they have another year of eligibility. Somehwere, Andrew Ssicho is scratching his head and saying: “damn, dudes. That’s a ton of games!”
12:06 – A Hudgins 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down makes it 5-0 and Bentley is 0-6 at the first media timeout including a couple of chippies. They look hesitant.
12:08 – Pete Blust’s reverse lay-up gets the Falcons on the board at the 14:44 mark.
12:12 – Hudgins has outscored Bentley himself, 7-5. “Stop looking up,” I tell myself, unable to break the habit of scoreboard watching on the ceiling.
12:17 – Lawrence converts a much-needed 3-pointer after missing his first five shots from the field. Brings Bentley within a deuce at 14-12.
12:22 – Mason Webb deflects a ball on the wing and it lands on the table between me and Dick. He recovers it and hands it to the official, who is from another region. Whomever advanced from our regional will work a game later today. It’s survive-and-advance for the stripes, as well.
12:25 – Bentley turns it over for an uncharacteristic seventh time. They are the only seven miscues of the game, however the team only trails by four.
12:26 – The Falcons are rushing their shots. Hudgins bangs another three and Diego Bernard scores on a banker in the lane. 23-14 Bearcats.
12:27 – Last time I saw NWMSU at the 2017 Elite-8, I was taken by its defense and deliberate, methodical offense. Three national championships later, those attributes are still very much on display. The all-lefty backcourt is special. Their footwork on defense truly stands out.
12:30 – interesting to see Northwest Missouri State wearing the road green with the lower seed. I think their players are relishing playing the underdog role, as they did handling top-seed Augustana in a hostile environment in their regional final.
12:32 – The Bearcats step out of bounds at the 2:44 mark – their first turnover of the game. It’s 8-0 in points off mistakes, which is the difference on the scoreboard. Bentley is shooting an icy 25% with nine turnovers but only trails 23-16 in an extremely low-scoring affair. Defense and rebounding (23-12) are keeping the team in the game.
12:35 – Halftime arrives and thanks to a 3-pointer by Jordan Mello-Klein with four seconds to play, the East Region champs trail 26-19. Can’t remember the last time they scored fewer than 20 points in a half.
12:36 – New Haven head coach and regional committee chair Ted Hotaling greets me on press row and says “other than missed lay-ups, Bentley is playing pretty well, hanging in there.”
12:53 – Back to action and Lawrence hits a foul-line fadeaway to make it a five-point game. Bentley is very much in this thing.
12:57 – The Falcons cough it up twice in a row – that makes 11 in the game – heading into the first media timeout down 31-23 with 15:58 to play.
1:01 – Despite 28% shooting and 12 turnovers, the Falcons somehow find themselves only down two possessions, 32-27. Across from me, I can see the look on Jay Lawson’s face and it appears to be agitation, as if he has a rock in his shoe.
1:03 – Hudgins drains another triple for a game-high 14 points. He has 2,776 for his career and at this pace will end up in the Top 5 all-time in D2 history. Lambert Shell of Bridgeport is our region’s last 3,000-point scorer, by the way, concluding his brilliant FOUR-YEAR career in 1992 with 3,001. And he never shot a 3-pointer.
1:07 – The officials have called THREE Falcons for stepping out of bounds, and the latest one on Laput was highly questionable. I think the ref was looking at the 3-point line.
1:11 – Webb called for an offensive foul – turnover #15. Bernard follows with a lay-up and Bentley is down a game-high 42-30 with 10:57 left.
1:14 – Bentley comes out of the media timeout and turns it over yet again – leading to another Bernard lay-up. 14-point game nearing the midway mark of the half. And just as soon as I type this, Lawrence is called for an illegal screen and Hudgins connects from long range. 47-30 and cause for concern.
1:16 – Bentley called for its EIGHTH foul of the half with 9:18 on the clock. Four on the offensive end. The Falcons committed the second fewest fouls per game in the country. Turnovers are 18-7. But NWMSU has a lot to do with that, forcing the Falcons to play fast. Hudgins converts both of his tosses and the lead balloons to 51-31.
1:21 – The Bearcats are legit. They play like a team that’s been here before. Unphased. Locked in. Bentley has looked a tad tight all game. Lots of shots clanging off the front rim.
1:24 – Lawrence drills a left-wing 3 to bring his team within 53-37.
1:28 – Last media timeout and it’s all over but the final score. 61-43 right now. The key stats are shooting (45%-31%) and points off turnovers (21-0). Bentley’s strongest asset is – as per usual – on the glass (39-30), including an impressive 10-0 on the O-Boards.
1:30 – Lawrence – who has picked up his scoring the last few minutes and leads his club after a rough start – makes a spin move but his lay-up spins out. Not the first time this has happened across the postseason. Some of us media pundits have been opining that the new light-orange basketballs are to blame for all the pop-outs. What moon-mined material are these monstrosities made out of?
1:34 – Both teams empty their benches with 1:07 to go.
1:37 – Final score: Northwest Missouri State 61 BENTLEY 43. Leading scorers: Hudgins 24 and Lawrence 14. The East Region national championship drought extends to 34 years since Lowell's title in 1988. And it's now 17 years since one of our teams has reached the championship game (Bryant in 2005).
1:49 – In coach Ben McCollum’s opening statement, he graciously praises Bentley and stresses how classy they are on the court. Lawson would be proud of that.
2:02 – Before Lawson, Lawrence and Mello-Klein field questions in the postgame press conference, it is announced that the 43 points the Falcons tallied are fewest ever in the D2 NCAA Tournament during the shot clock era. Nearly half their average of 83.4 coming in.
2:05 – Classy as always, Lawson credits the opponent, stating that there is no team like NWMSU in the East Region, specifically as quick at the guard positions. He also restates his appreciation for this particular unit, claiming that he has had better teams over his 37 years with the program, but that none has ever represented the university better than this one. Mello-Klein added that the relationships he fostered amongst his “brothers’ on the court were something he never expected and that he would never forget. Though it ended sooner than the team would have liked, Bentley played like a champion all season.
Well, that’s a wrap on our regional men’s coverage this season. I hope you enjoyed what we brought to the table. Special thanks to all the SIDs, ADs and coaches for their hospitality, accessibility and camaraderie. Until next fall, be safe and God bless!