Bearkats Win O.T. Thriller 65-63 Over UC-Irvine
by Cheval John
Huntsville, TX-The Bearkat basketball team was pushed to their limits yesterday against a really good University of California-Irvine Anteaters in the final game of the Progressive Legends Classic Subregional.
The Bearkats knew that they had to give it their all if they wanted to beat an Anteater’s team that went toe to-toe with UCLA Bruins a week ago and narrowly losing to Southern Mississippi the day before.
They did just that in overtime behind a go-ahead, game-winning shot by Darius Gatson with 15 seconds left for a 65-63 win over UC-Irvine.
“I came off the screen. … .I was hoping to turn the corner and got some contact and I was able to get the shot,”
Gatson said.
“It was a big play for us.”
The Bearkats totaled 47 rebounds in the game. Most of the rebounds came on the offensive side of the ball that produced 18 second chance points.
Terrance Motley and Michael Holyfield had eight rebounds apiece.
“They both played really well,” head coach Jason Hooten said.
“Defensive end is technique and offensive end is just heart. We got 17 offensive rebounds. That’s just the will to go get it.”
“(Terrance) Motley got five and (Michael) Holyfield got four. … .That give’s you extra possession everytime.”
The Bearkats opened the game on a 12-2 run. They were leading 19-9 at one point before UC-Irvine came storming back with a 10-1 run of their own to cut the lead to 20-19.
When it was all said and down, the Bearkats were leading 30-25 at halftime.
Then things got really interesting as the Anteaters opened the second half on a 6-0 run to take a 31-30 lead behind a three-pointer by Mike Best and a pair of buckets by Will Davis II.
From there, it was an all-out battle by both teams as they were five lead changes and three ties.
With the score tied at 58, the Bearkats had an opportunity to win it in regulation, but couldn’t convert that allowed the game to go into overtime.
UC-Irvine went on a 5-3 run to lead at 63-61 with about two minutes left in overtime.
“I was sitting there thinking, ‘we’re going to win this game,'” Hooten said.
“Even when we got down in overtime, I just knew one of these guys were going to make a play.”
That turned out to be the case.
After Motley’s free throw that cut the lead to 63-62, Gatson made a huge steal that gave the Bearkats a shot at winning the game in the final seconds.
Gatson, who finished with 13 points, drove to the basket and laid it in for the go-ahead score at 64-63.
UC-Irvine couldn’t convert to tie it up and Gatson made one of his free throws to increase the lead to 65-63.
Then in desparation, the Anteaters threw up a prayer, but missed with time running out with the Bearkats celebrating a huge win.
DeMarcus Gatlin lead the Bearkats with 15 points, five rebounds and one steal.
Adam Folker led UC-Irvine with 13 points while Davis II had 12.
With thanksgiving weekend, the players and coaches will use this time to rest before they get back to work in preparation for Tuesday’s matchup against the University of Texas at Austin.
“It’s another game for us,” Hooten said.
“I know they’re really good. They won two out of three in Maui and I know they will be ready.”
“We will be ready too.”
The Longhorn’s only loss in Maui came against Charminade, a D-II school, but coach Hooten doesn’t see this game as a David vs. Goliath match.
“I wouldn’t look at it like that,” Hooten said.
“This may sound crazy to everybody, but we expect to go play well and have a chance to win no matter who we play.”
Leveling Out The “Madness” In The NCAA
By Cheval John
Photo Courtesy of Naypong
It’s that time of year again as tonight begins March Madness.
This year’s NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, which consists of 68 teams, will be very intriguing because of the fact that the University of Kentucky is trying to become the first undefeated team to win the national championship since 1976 when the University of Indiana won the championship undefeated.
Though the focus will be whether they will finish undefeated or suffer a loss at the worst time that can derail their hopes of a great season, I want to chat about how as always how this whole system works.
You might have noticed in my last blog post, “Choose Yourself In Order To Earn Attention For Your Talent,” I shared how the only way for teams from mid-majors and lesser known schools to gain the same exposure as the big named schools is if they are in the NCAA tourmanent.
The sad thing is that many schools who have mediocre records are in the tournament because they are in the top conferences (SEC, Big 12, Big 10, ACC, Pac 12) and they are perceived to have played a tougher schedule than the schools who are in lesser known conferences.
So if a school in a lesser known conference had a great season, won the regular season title and then lost in the tournament, they don’t have a chance to make the tournament.
I think that in any professional sports like the NBA, anyone can make the playoffs if they had a great record and are in the top 8 of their conference.
Except for the NCAA.
If you are not in the big five conference, possibly a few mid-majors or a school like Gonzaga who have made 16 consecutive NCAA Tournaments and have given the chance for the West Coast Conference to have other at-large bid teams, then you have no shot.
Merit does not rule in most NCAA sports like football, basketball and baseball.
I suspect that the name of the game for these tournaments is money.
Of course the big name schools like the University of Texas, Notre Dame, etc. has a large fan and alumni base.
So if they are many big name schools in the tournament, that gives the NCAA a better chance to make more money because it has a bigger draw to television viewers.
It is a big reason why they are in the midst of a 14 year, near 11 billion deal with CBS/Turner Broadcasting to showcase the men’s basketball tournament.
That means the NCAA has to put out a great showcase of top talent every year in order to prove to CBS/Turner that they made the right decision to spend all of that money for them to be the exclusive home of the tournament.
Of course, many mid-majors and lesser known schools have to compete every year with the big name schools and also schedule to play these big name schools even if they are going to lose.
Not just because they want to make their team tougher, but it helps to possibly improve their Rating Percentage Index (RPI), which is one of the metrics that the NCAA selection committee uses to choose the teams who will be in the tournament.
So even if a team have a mediocre record like a 18-12 or 17-11, etc., if they are in one of the Big 5 conferences, they have a much better chance to make the national tournament even if they did not win their respective conference tournament.
It is unlikely that the system for selecting teams in the NCAA tournaments will change anytime soon.
All of what the teams in the lesser conferences can do to make the big dance is to win their respective conference tournament, schedule tougher non-conference teams in the Big 5 conferences, or advance in the tournament like Gonzaga has done in order to show the nation that their conference is not as easy as they think it is.
Perhaps, this will level out the playing field of collegiate basketball at the Division I level.
What are your thoughts on the way the NCAA basketball tournament is run? You can leave your comment below.
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