Junior guard Antone Gray knocked down a long jump shot with 6.3 seconds left in the contest to lift the top-seeded Rhode Island College Anchormen basketball team to a 74-72 win over the fourth-seeded UMass Dartmouth Corsairs in the semifinal game of the 2010 Little East Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Murray Center on Friday, Feb. 26. The Anchormen won their sixth-consecutive game and advanced to the Little East Conference Tournament championship game where they defeated the second-seeded Western Connecticut Colonials to win their third LEC Tournament Championship in the past four seasons.
Sophomore forward Mason Choice led RIC with a team-high 20 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Senior guard Jake Grimes was one board shy of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds, while also dishing out a team-high four assists. Gray finished with 13 points, three assists and two steals in the last-second victory.
Facing their archrival UMass Dartmouth, who boasted three of the top six scorers in the Little East Conference this season, the Anchormen would have their hands full all evening with the trio of junior forward Brandon Stephens, senior forward Brandon Shelton and sophomore center Lance Greene. The trifecta would combine to score 54 points in the game, as Green posted a double-double with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds. Stephens finished with 20 points and five rebounds, while Shelton contributed 11 points.
The two Little East heavyweights took turns holding the lead through the first 5:15 of the game. Trailing, 10-9, the Anchormen went on a 7-0 run keyed by back-to-back layups from Choice to open up a six-point, 16-10 lead with 12:32 left in the first half. Junior guard Nick Manson and Choice each drained 3-pointers to extend the lead to a game-high 10 points on two separate occasions, and a Grimes jumper gave RIC their largest lead of the game, 11 points, with 3:40 remaining.
UMass Dartmouth caught fire offensively in the final three minutes of the half, going on a 9-2 run to close out the first half only down by four points, 40-36. Shelton had five points and Greene contributed four points to spark the Corsairs late run.
UMass Dartmouth built on their late comeback to end the first half by storming back in the second half, going on a 14-9 run to go up by one, 50-49, with just under 14 minutes left in the game. Sophomore forward Mike Akinrola countered the Corsairs offensive outburst by getting to the free throw line knocking down one of two, and banking in a layup on back-to-back possessions to put the Anchormen back on top. Impressive acrobatic layups on three-straight RIC possessions by Choice put the Anchormen in control, up by six points, 58-52, with 8:36 remaining.
UMass Dartmouth wasn’t content to let the Anchormen pull away, as a 3-pointer from point guard Paul Rose cut the RIC lead down to a single point, 59-58, and free throws from Greene on the next possession put the Corsairs on top with just over five minutes remaining.
A UMass Dartmouth foul with 4:24 left in the game put Choice on the line, and he made both of his shots to give RIC the lead, 63-62. UMass Dartmouth continued to attack the Anchormen with Greene under the basket, where he drew another foul and made the front end of two attempts to tie the game at 63-63, with 4:12 remaining. The Corsairs got the rebound off the second miss and Greene was fed for layup to put the visitors up by two, 65-63.
After two free throws from Grimes, and Shelton on both sides, RIC’s Gray buried a 3-pointer, and junior captain Darius Debnam hit a layup to put the Anchormen up 70-67 with 2:11 left in the game. Shelton was fouled and sent to the line where he hit both shots, and Debnam knocked down two free throws to respond on the Anchormen’s next possession. UMass Dartmouth’s Stephens hit an acrobatic layup, and a critical turnover by RIC allowed the Corsairs to tie the game with a Shelton free throw in the final minute.
With the score tied at 72-72, with 41 seconds remaining, Gray isolated on his defender, and set up to take the final shot for RIC. “I told him to win the game, and he went and did it,” joked RIC Head Coach Bob Walsh in a post-game interview with RIC Radio WXIN. “I told him to just go. He’s a special Division I-caliber player, that’s all I can say. He makes me look like a good coach with the plays he makes out there for us in critical situations.”
The home crowd at the Murray Center jumped out of their seats as Gray buried the jumper with his feet on the 3-point line. With seven ticks left on the game clock, the Corsairs had possession, and an opportunity to win the game. Junior guard John Kanarski drove the length of the floor and fired up a prayer from beyond the 3-point line over Gray that wouldn’t go, and the Anchormen escaped with a narrow victory, keyed by another clutch performance from Gray.
“I was actually surprised Kanarski took the shot. I was expecting him to pass it to Stephens or Shelton, but he kept it, and coach told me to give him some room, so I did and he took the shot and missed,” Gray said. “It’s not over yet. We are 40 minutes away from where we want to be, LEC Champions and going to the Division III National Championship Tournament.”
Gray and the Anchormen secured an automatic berth into the Division III National Championship Tournament by defeating Western Connecticut 81-80 in the LEC Championship game on Sat., Feb. 27 at the Murray Center.
Anchormen Notes…
Junior Nick Manson (8 points), junior Darius Debnam (6), sophomore Mike Akinrola (5), junior Carl Lee (4), freshman Tahrike Carter (2), and freshman William Williams (1) also scored in the victory over UMass Dartmouth.
Gray’s heroics keep RIC alive
Published: Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, March 2, 2010 18:03
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