NIT Roundup : Wyoming, Ohio State Win, Play for Title

Fennis Dembo continued his postseason scoring spree with 23 points and Wyoming rallied from a 12-point deficit to knock off Florida, 67-58, Monday night at New York in the semifinals of the 49th National Invitation Tournament.

The Cowboys (24-11) will play Ohio State Wednesday night for the championship.

Dembo has averaged 22 points in Wyoming’s four NIT victories after scoring at a 16.5 clip during the regular season.

Florida (19-13) led, 25-13, with 8:51 left in the first half, but the Cowboys began working the ball inside to Dembo and 6-11 Eric Leckner. Dembo scored 12 points and Leckner 9 as Wyoming pulled within 37-32 at halftime.

The Cowboys, who rarely took an outside shot after the first 10 minutes, scored the first six points of the second half to take their first lead, 38-37, on a short jumper by Dembo, who went on to score 11 points in a nine-minute span.

Dembo gave Wyoming the lead for good, 49-48, on a breakaway layup with 8:40 left in the game and pulled steadily away.

Florida’s Kenny McClary had 13 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 2:47 left. Leckner had 19 points for Wyoming.

Joe Lawrence got Florida off to its great start, hitting his first six shots, but he didn’t score again.

Ohio State 79, Louisiana Tech 66--Brad Sellers had 23 points, 13 rebounds and 9 blocked shots, and Dennis Hopson also scored 23 points as the Buckeyes and lame-duck Coach Eldon Miller beat the Bulldogs in the other semifinal.

Miller, fired Feb. 3 and effective the end at the end of the season, has been hired by Northern Iowa.

Sellers had a perfect second half, hitting all seven of his shots and four free throws. Sellers, who was only 1 for 6 in the first half, tied the NIT record for blocked shots set by Virginia’s Ralph Sampson against Lafayette in 1980.

Hopson had 12 of his 14 first-half points in the first 8 1/2 minutes as Ohio State jumped ahead, 18-8. The Buckeyes extended the margin to 27-13 at the 5:36 mark on a three-point play by Kip Lomax and had a 32-23 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs (19-14), who got 18 points from Robert Godbolt, never made a run in the second half.