NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Caste of Three Leads Georgia Tech : Southeast: Star system works, as three players account for 89 points in 93-91 victory over Minnesota.

Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Cremins has his own caste system. There are those who shoot and there are those who get to hear their names during introductions.

Cremins makes no bones about it. His shooters--Kenny Anderson, Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver--ride in the front of the break and get their own marquee designation: Lethal Weapon 3.

Everyone else gets them the ball.

But who can argue when the system keeps working? Putting the basketball, their postseason future and everything else into the hands of Anderson, Scott and Oliver, the Yellow Jackets rode out another NCAA Tournament thriller Sunday and edged Minnesota, 93-91, to win the Southeast Regional championship.

Lethal Weapon 3 is in the Final Four.

Scott had 40 points, Anderson 30 and Oliver 19 to account for 89 of Georgia Tech’s 93 points.

The three players accounted for 52 of Georgia Tech’s 56 field-goal attempts. Scott had 22 attempts, Anderson and Oliver 15 each.

The Yellow Jackets’ only other scorers were Karl Brown and Johnny McNeil, who each had two points. Brown tried three shots, McNeil one.

Somebody handed Cremins a final stat sheet and asked him to account for himself.

“Believe it or not, it’s not that unusual to see this,” Cremins said. “I’ll bet this has happened to us several times this year . . . It’s not something we designed. It’s just something that comes naturally.”

Yet Georgia Tech’s privileged few might be slumming today, returning to Atlanta instead of reloading for Denver, if not for one of its extras--senior center McNeil.

With six seconds left and the Yellow Jackets ahead, 93-91, Anderson missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation. Minnesota rebounded and, with no timeouts left, flung the ball downcourt for one final shot.

The outlet went to junior guard Kevin Lynch, who cut toward the middle of the court but was cut off by McNeil. McNeil forced Lynch outside, toward the right sideline, leaving Lynch cornered at the end of baseline.

Lynch’s only option was a desperate three-point castaway that was off line.

“Let me tell you something about that last shot,” Cremins said. “We watched so many games on TV during in this tournament that were won on last-second shots. We talked about it in practice--’Don’t freeze.’

“In that Clemson-Connecticut game, Clemson let them get a free shot off. But Johnny wouldn’t let it happen. He did an excellent job on Lynch.

“If it goes in, it’s a three-pointer all the way and they win. But it was a difficult shot. He missed and we go forward.”

It was a victory of imbalance over balance. Minnesota (23-9) advanced to its first-ever regional final on the strength of interchangeable parts, where guards sometimes play forwards, forwards sometimes play centers and everyone gets a hand in the shoot-around.

By sharing the ball and pounding it inside, the more physical Gophers led by as 12 points, 42-30, in the first half and by as many as five, 58-53, in the second.

Minnesota’s 49-47 halftime lead was the product of 21 baskets, mostly from close range. Eighteen were inside 10 feet, and 13 of those were inside five feet.

“They were really taking it to us,” Cremins said. “Today, Minnesota was very similar to Michigan State. Very physical. But we met the challenge. We didn’t choke.”

Georgia Tech (28-6) has lived with that label throughout Cremins’ nine years as head coach, advancing beyond the NCAA’s first round only once since 1986. But in this tournament, the Yellow Jackets weathered three pressurized finishes--beating LSU by three points, Michigan State by one in overtime and, now, Minnesota by two.

Scott, who made the shot that beat Michigan State on Friday, keyed Sunday’s comeback by sinking four of five three-point attempts in the second half.

“Those were big-time three-pointers,” Minnesota Coach Clem Haskins said. “Those are three-pointers in the NBA, from 23, 24 feet.

“We were extending our defense, trying to get him to shoot them from there. You miss those long three-pointers and all of a sudden, there’s a long rebound and you’ve got a fast break going the other way.”

But when Scott kept making them, Minnesota couldn’t begin breaking. And when Anderson, the freshman guard voted outstanding player of the Southeast Regional, made another three-pointer with 2:43 left, the Gophers were staring at their biggest deficit of the second half, 89-84.

Two can play the three-point game, though, and Willie Burton brought Minnesota back with two bombs of his own.

Burton, who finished with 35 points, made his last three-pointer with seven seconds left. He got the ball, stepped back behind the line and swished the shot with a hand in his face.

That brought the Gophers within 93-91, and they called their final timeout. Then Minnesota guard Connell Lewis fouled Anderson on the inbounds pass.

Anderson could have clinched the victory then and there with two free throws, but missed his first attempt and Minnesota rebounded.

Cremins would cringe once more.

But Lynch misfired at the buzzer and Georgia Tech was bound for Denver, where the Yellow Jackets will join Atlantic Coast Conference neighbor Duke as half of the Final Four. It will be Georgia Tech’s first appearance in the Final Four.

As Yellow Jackets cavorted around the court in celebration, CBS cameras corraled Anderson, Scott and Oliver. It should be noted, however, that Cremins let a few other players help in cutting down the nets.

Eighty-nine points from three players. And, Cremins unabashedly pointed out, that was with Oliver playing with a stress fracture in his ankle.

“He’s a big part of the big threesome,” Cremins said. “Believe it or not, when he’s 100%, you can expect 25, 26 points a game from him.”

Oliver had to agree.

“To be honest, not trying to be boastful or anything, when we play together and we’re all well, we’re the best perimeter (shooting) team in the country,” Oliver said. “When we’re all clicking, we can be very exciting.”

Don’t expect the Yellow Jackets to change soon. If Three Men and a Basketball plays this well in New Orleans, Cremins isn’t about to start spreading the wealth.

At Georgia Tech, greed is good.