ATLANTIC CITY -- It took a few hours, but we finally have full-game stats for Duquesne-La Salle.
The Explorers shot 30-for-59 from the field (50.8%), including 7-for-12 from three-point range (58.3%) and 23-for-47 from two-point range (48.9%), and 15-for-30 from the free throw line (50.0%). Fourteen offensive rebounds, 24 defensive rebounds, 18 assists, 20 turnovers, one block, nine steals and 20 fouls committed.
That adds up to 79 possessions and 1.035 points per possession.
The Dukes shot 29-for-60 from the field (48.3%), including 7-for-17 from three-point range (41.2%) and 23-for-43 from two-point range (53.5%), and 14-for-20 from the free throw line (70.0%). Ten offensive rebounds, 25 defensive rebounds, 15 assists, 21 turnovers, six blocks, 12 steals and 20 fouls commmitted.
That adds up to 81 possessions and 0.981 points per possession.
It was high-risk, high-reward stuff from both sides, and I was impressed that La Salle was able to run with Duquesne for all 40 minutes. But the Explorers will get a very, very different kind of game from Fran Dunphy's motion offense today.
Line of the game goes not to Reggie Jackson, who led all scorers with 29 points, or Darnell Harris with his team-high 21. It goes to Rodney Green for a big night on multiple fronts:
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R. Green |
39 |
7-15 |
4-5 |
0-0 |
4 |
5 |
9 |
5 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
20 |
18 |
As for Rhode Island-Charlotte, the Rams had the game by the scruff of the neck when Keith Cothran's layup made it 66-60 Rhody with 3:20 to play.
But then Leemire Goldwire finally broke free. URI had done a pretty good job keeping the sharpshooter shackled up to then, but Goldwire decided to start shooting anyway. He hit three threes over the next 2:08 to bring the 49ers to within 72-21.
Then, with 38 seconds left, things really got weird. It started when Rhode Island star Will Daniels fouled out. After two Rhode Island timeouts, Kaheim Seawright was whistled for a questionable charge with eight seconds left, and Charlotte got the ball.
The play put the ball in the hands of 49ers guard Michael Gerrity. Dribbling at the top of the arc, he saw the lane part wide open and drove to the left side of the paint. He went up for the game-winner, and drew contact from Keith Cothran with 0.3 seconds on the clock.
Cothran probably got a piece of the ball, but the consensus was that he got a lot more of the man and that the foul call was correct. Now, you might not blow the whistle with that little time left, but Gerrity's layup was almost surely going in anyway.
So Gerrity went to the line and hit both free throws. As in, he didn't clank the second off the rim so time could expire. Nonetheless, it was 75-73 Charlotte.
But we weren't done yet. Rhode Island's Jimmy Baron, who is definitely capable of hitting a long-distance prayer, took the inbounds pass.
Except he took it at most five feet from the baseline where the pass had come from. And I you can't catch-and-shoot with under 0.4 seconds on the clock. You can tip a ball in with as little as 0.2 seconds on the clock, but you can't tip it in from the other end of the floor.
Which is why the scoreboard clock never started once Baron got the ball. The refs whistled the game dead immediately. The Rhode Island fans went ballistic, and it would have been nice to have the emotional release of the final horn, but everyone on the floor understood what was going on.
For the game, Rhode Island shot 21-for-45 from the field (46.7%), including 6-for-21 from three-point range (28.6%) and 15-for-24 from two-point range (62.5%), and 25-for-32 from the free throw line (78.1%). Eleven offensive rebounds, 19 defensive rebounds, 12 assists, 16 turnovers, three blocks, nine steals and 23 fouls committed.
That adds up to 65 possessions and 1.120 points per possession.
Charlotte shot 25-for-48 from the field (52.1%), including 8-for-18 from three-point range (44.4%) and 17-for-30 from two-point range (56.7%), and 17-for-27 from the free throw line (63.0%). Ten offensive rebounds, 18 defensive rebounds, 14 assists, 16 turnovers, no blocks, seven steals and 24 fouls committed.
That adds up to 67 possessions and 1.122 points per possession.
The 49ers shot 62.5 percent from the field in the second half alone.
Line of the game goes to Goldwire, not least because barring a miracle tomorrow it'll be the last time he gets it in his college career:
Name |
Min |
FG |
FT |
3pt |
OR |
DR |
TR |
A |
S |
TO |
Blk |
PF |
Eff |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
L. Goldwire |
36 |
8-16 |
2-2 |
5-12 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
22 |
23 |
Postgame audio
Rhode Island: Jim Baron, Will Daniels and Jimmy Baron
Charlotte: Bobby Lutz, Leemire Goldwire and Michael Gerrity
