College Basketball Roundup : Bradley Escapes Illinois State Upset Bid, 65-64

After ninth-ranked Bradley shot only 31% and scored just 25 points in the first half of its Missouri Valley Conference tournament semifinal game Tuesday at Tulsa, Okla., against Illinois State, Coach Dick Versace posed a pointed halftime question to his starters.

“I didn’t raise my voice,” Versace said. “I asked them if they wanted to go for the win. If not, I’d let the other guys (on the bench) play.”

The Braves then began to chip away at Illinois State’s 34-25 halftime lead, and improved to 64% shooting, but it took a layup by Hersey Hawkins with five seconds remaining to ensure Bradley’s 65-64 victory, its 22nd straight.

Hawkins’ basket gave Bradley its only lead of the game. The Braves trailed, 64-58, with 3:38 left, but rallied by holding Illinois State scoreless the rest of the way.

A dunk by 6-foot-8 center Mike Williams, who had 22 points, brought Bradley to within 64-63 with 1:16 left. Illinois State could not convert on its next trip down the floor, and Bradley had its opportunity to win after taking a timeout with 20 seconds left.

After Hawkins’ layup, Illinois State was unable to get off a shot before the buzzer. Illinois State finished its season at 15-14.

Versace said his team played very poorly in the first half. He attributed that to Illinois State’s game plan, which included outstanding defense. The 25-point first half was Bradley’s lowest point production this season.

Coach Bob Donewald of Illinois State said: “You have to give Bradley credit. You don’t get to be 31-1 unless you are good.”

Bradley advanced to tonight’s final against Tulsa, which edged Drake, 68-67, in the second semifinal game. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Tracy Moore hit two free throws with 17 seconds left to send Tulsa into the final. It was Tulsa’s second win over Drake in four nights.

Tuesday, Tulsa built a 25-15 lead on Brian Rahilly’s two free throws with 7:59 left. The Hurricane led, 36-27, at the half. Tulsa had an 11-point lead with 3:12 left in the game, but the Bulldogs closed to 66-65, with 22 seconds left on a basket by David Miller.

Moore’s free throws were the last of his 27 points and gave the Hurricane a three-point lead. Michael Morgan missed two free throws for Drake with seven seconds left, but Melvin Mathis’ follow basket with four seconds left accounted for the final margin.

Navy 72, George Mason 61--David Robinson scored 26 points and Vernon Butler added 24 as No. 18 Navy captured the Colonial Athletic Assn. title at Fairfax, Va. The triumph puts the Midshipmen, who have won 12 straight games and 20 out their last 21, into the NCAA tournament for the second straight season.

In beating Mason for the third time this season, Navy improved to 27-4, setting a school record for victories.

The Patriots, who got 17 points from Kenny Sanders and 14 from Ricky Wilson, had a seven-game winning streak broken and fell to 19-11.

Robinson, the tournament’s most valuable player, scored five points as Navy went on an 11-4 run early in the second half to increase a three-point lead to 53-43 with 10:41 remaining.

CAC North Atlantic Tourney--At Boston, Reggie Lewis scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and John Williams added 20 points to lead top seeded Northeastern to an 82-61 victory over Vermont in a quarterfinal game.

In another quarterfinal, Paul Hendricks scored 13 points, and Tom Ivey added 12 to lead third-seeded Boston University to a 69-57 victory over sixth-seeded New Hampshire.

The Huskies move into Thursday’s semifinals against Siena, which beat Niagara, 82-70, at Buffalo, N.Y. In the other semifinal at Buffalo, Canisius will face Boston University. Canisius advanced by defeating Maine, 89-76.

Reggie Miller of UCLA, Dwayne Polee of Pepperdine, Keith Smith of Loyola Marymount and Tod Murphy of UC Irvine have been named to the first squad of the All-District 15 basketball team. Also named to the first team was Anthony Jones of Nevada Las Vegas.

Loyola Marymount’s Forrest McKenzie was named to the second team. Coaches in District 15, which consists of California, Arizona and Nevada, voted for the team.

Guard Jon Freeman scored 25 points and forward Darryl Jones added 19 to lead Westmont to the NAIA District 3 basketball championship by beating Cal Baptist, 80-67, at Whittier College.

Westmont, which was making its fourth straight appearance in the District 3 final, advances to the NAIA national tournament at Kansas City March 12-18. The win improved the Warriors’ record to 23-7. Cal Baptist is 20-12.