Saturday,
March 8, 2003
2003 Food Lion/South Atlantic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament — Semifinals
No.
4 Seed Presbyterian Upsets Top Seed Carson-Newman 69-52
HICKORY, N.C. – The
No. 4 seeded Blue Hose of Presbyterian College used a balanced
attack to upset the top seeded Eagles of Carson-Newman College
69-52 in semifinal action of the 2003 Food Lion South Atlantic
Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Saturday afternoon.
The Blue Hose (25-7) advance
to tomorrow’s championship game scheduled for 4:00 pm
against the winner of the second-seeded Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne
College and the third-seeded Bulldogs of Wingate University.
Carson-Newman falls to 20-9 on the season.
Carson-Newman opened the game
on a 11-4 run highlighted a trio of three-pointers from deep
including the final one by sophomore guard Braun Dabbs (Greeneville,
Tenn.). Presbyterian fought back and tied the game at 13-13 on
a layup by freshman center Johann Collins (Raleigh,
N.C.). The Blue Hose extended their lead to 14 points at 32-18
with 5:13 remaining as freshman Tray Ballenger (Wellford,
S.C.) knocked down a three-pointer. The Eagles, who struggled
to shoot 36.4 percent in the first half, scored only five more
points in the half and trailed 41-23 at intermission.
“To
hold them to 50-something points, we had to have a good
defensive game,” said Presbyterian head coach Gregg Nibert.
“We did a good job on our zone. We made them shoot the three
and were able to get out on their shooters.”
The Blue Hose shot 53.8
percent from the field in the first half and were led by SAC
Freshman of the Year Michael Drum (Rural Hall, N.C.)
and All-SAC selection, senior Chuck Rayford (Greenville,
S.C.) who each tallied 11 points. Carson-Newman was led by
junior guard Ishmail Simmons (Atlanta, Ga.) who tallied
six points.
The top seeded Eagles opened
the second half on a 14-7 run highlighted by five points from
SAC Player of the Year selection, senior guard Kyle Gribble
(Sparta, Tenn.). After the Blue Hose pushed the lead back
to 54-39 at the 9:34 mark on a layup by Drum, the Eagles
responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to cut
the lead to 54-49 on a layup by junior center Larry Coleman
(Halls, Tenn.).
“We did
not shoot the ball well and got behind. When you get behind
18, you’ve got a big hole,” said Carson-Newman head coach
Dale Clayton. “I thought our guys did a great job coming
back in the second half. But coming back from that far down
takes a lot out of you emotionally. It took so much energy,
that when we cut it to five, we were tired and our shots
didn’t fall.”
Presbyterian would not let
the Carson-Newman get any closer as Rayford and Drum combined
for 11 points in the final five minutes and held the Eagles to
one made field goal during that span to seal the victory.
The
Blue Hose were led by Drum’s game-high 21 points while
Rayford added 17 points and six rebounds. Senior center Rod
Isom (Anderson, S.C.) added 12 points and six rebounds.
The Eagles were led by Dabbs’ 11 points followed by Simmons
and Gribble to each chipped in 10 points apiece.