NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Atlantic Regional
Hosted by Gannon University (Erie, Pa. – Hammermill Center)
Semifinal Game #2 – Sunday, March 15, 2009
(Courtesy of WVIAC Associate Commissioner Will Prewitt)
ERIE, Pa. - Kyle Goldcamp's inside basket with 6.1 seconds left lifted top-seeded Gannon to a dramatic 67-65 victory against Alderson-Broaddus in the second semifinal of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional.
28-3 Gannon, the nation's fifth ranked squad, advances to Tuesday's championship tilt to face third-seeded Kutztown.
Gannon jumped out to a quick 13-2 lead in front of their boisterous home crowd as A-B committed three turnovers in the game's first three minutes. Goldcamp and Pierre Howard scored four points each in the early outburst. The Battlers also missed seven of their first eight shots from the field until Zach Green broke the spell with a banked-in three-pointer. Another Green triple narrowed the gap to 13-8.
The Golden Knights owned another ten-point edge at 22-12, but Mark Summerfield capped a 6-0 Battler spurt with a three-pointer to bring A-B within 22-18 at the 8:12 mark of the opening half. A Summerfield driving bucket in the land made it 24-22. Jordan Morrison's three-pointer put A-B on top for the first time at 25-24.
The lead went back-and-forth until Gannon pushed the lead back to 35-30 on a George Johnson three-pointer with just under two minutes left in the half. A long Cory Knight triple as the shot clock wound down took the Golden Knight edge out to 38-30 in the final minute. The teams exchanged baskets in the waning seconds of the half for a 40-32 Gannon advantage.
Gannon's sticky defense limited Alderson-Broaddus' trio of All-WVIAC guards to 1-for-14 shooting in the opening twenty minutes, but the Battlers received 11 first half points from Green.
The Golden Knights led by 11 points four times early in the second half, but A-B closed back to 51-47 on Stan Hall's follow-up basket. Gannon responded with a 6-0 run keyed by a Pierre Howard steal and layup that extended the lead to 57-47.
A-B notched the next five points, but the Battlers' comeback hopes were dealt a harsh blow when Stan Hall was whistled for his fourth foul for charging at the 8:08 mark.
The Battlers kept clawing back and cut the lead to 59-58 on Green's basket with 4:51 to play. Howard scored on a driving bucket for a three-point Gannon lead. Two Goldcamp free throws increased the margin to 63-58 before Terrell Eargle answered with a basket. A Liggins free throw cut it back to 63-61.
Knight drew a foul from Hall, his fifth, and connected on two free throws at the 2:10 mark to put Gannon up 65-61. Eargle cut the A-B deficit in half with two charity tosses of his own with 1:10 left.
The Battlers finally drew even on a Lee putback at the 29-second mark at 65-all to set the stage for Goldcamp's heroics.
Eargle had a look at a contested 25-footer at the buzzer, but his potential game-winner banged off the front rim.
Goldcamp led all scorers and rebounders with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Stocyzynski added 18 points and 7 rebounds for the Golden Knights.
Green led #17 A-B with 16 points, while Lee had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Hall ended with a dozen points.
Gannon, which improved to 20-1 on their home court, shot 50 percent from the field. A-B connected on 46.2 percent of their field goals, but the Battlers stayed close by nailing 6-of-14 three-point attempts. A-B was also 11-of-13 from the foul line.
Both teams were plagued by turnovers in the hard-fought battle with A-B giving 22 and Gannon guilty of 20. The Golden Knights held a scant 29-27 rebounding edge.
Alderson-Broaddus ends their campaign at 27-6 the Battlers' eighth straight season with 20 or more victories.
A complete box score can be found at
http://www.gannonsports.com/documents/2009/3/15/ncaa6.htm?id=256.
