Tiniest Aggie Wins Battle of Threes

Excuse Sam Crawford while he kisses the sky. That was the desperate request New Mexico State Coach Neil McCarthy made of his land-locked Aggies during the semifinals of the Big West Tournament Saturday night, appealing to any desire they might have of advancing beyond the semifinals.

“They were killing us from the outside,” McCarthy said of UC Santa Barbara’s squadron of three-point bombardiers. “They were seven of nine for threes in the first half, which is just phenomenal. I told our kids at halftime, ‘Let’s not lose like we did four years ago against Fresno, going down on a ton of threes.’ ”

OK, the Aggies replied, let’s not.

Any suggestions, Coach?

McCarthy had one.

It involved planting Crawford, the tiniest Aggie, 20 feet from the basket and hoping he puts down a ton of threes, plus one.

Crawford’s skinny little 5-foot-8-inch body heaved the basketball toward the Long Beach Arena rafters 11 times.

Seven times, the basketball re-entered the marine layer and swished through a metal hoop.

“Normally, Sam won’t shoot that many in a game,” McCarthy explained. “Normally, he just tries three or four. But I’ll give Sam an open three-pointer any time the game’s on the line.”

Crawford delivered, his 27 points enabling New Mexico State to erase a 13-point second-half deficit and rally for an 82-77 victory. And in the final minute, as Santa Barbara forward Paul Johnson jogged off the court after fouling out, Crawford intercepted Johnson and pecked him affectionately on the cheek.

Excuse Sam Crawford why he kisses this guy?

Why not, Crawford said with a shrug and a smile.

“They’re all my friends,” Crawford said of the Gauchos. “I love those guys. They’re like my brothers. I’ve played with and against them for so long--in high school, in college, in summer leagues.

“We try to beat each other when we’re out there, but once those 40 minutes are done, we pull for each other. I know they’re going to come up to me tomorrow in the hotel and say, ‘Win it all.’ After the game tonight, they said, ‘You beat us, now go on and win the whole tournament.’ ”

Before Saturday’s game, Crawford knelt and prayed with another old friend, another Gaucho, guard Idris Jones.

“We pray,” Crawford says, “because we’re thankful we can do this.”

Jones played for Pasadena High while Crawford was scurrying around in the Westchester High backcourt. Johnson played up the freeway at Santa Barbara High and was a summer league teammate of Crawford’s two years ago.

“I’m just so proud we’re all still playing,” Crawford said. “I know I don’t have to worry about Idris. ‘Is Idris selling drugs? Is he not doing this, is he not doing that?’

“All I have to do is turn on a TV. ‘Idris Jones scored 25 points for UC Santa Barbara tonight.’ I know where he’s at, I know what he’s doing.

“That makes me feel good.”

Crawford is a genuine break from the stagnant air hanging over this Big West Tournament. Nevada Las Vegas’ J.R. Rider, the best player in the tournament, might very well be playing while scholastically ineligible, judging from an instructor’s recent charge that she was pressured into granting Rider a passing grade by UNLV officials. UNLV officials deny the charge, Rebel Coach Rollie Massimino brays, “Let’s only talk about the game,” and the newly christened “C. C.?” Rider plays on, treated as a hero by staff and teammates for overcoming tremendous “adversity.”

Crawford said he hopes UNLV fans showed up early enough to catch the New Mexico State game and maybe catch the other side of the collegiate athletics world.

“People should learn from us,” Crawford said. “We’re showing that it is possible to compete, and compete hard, without tearing each other down, without cussing each other, without killing the other guy.

“For 40 minutes, you go at it and do all you can to win. And afterward, you say, ‘What can I do to help you?’ ”

The way Crawford sees it, “You have to take care of your friends, because you don’t make that many. Well, you can make a lot when you’re in the position I’m in. You make the Sweet 16, you win your conference--everybody wants to be your friend. I’m sure Bobby Hurley goes through the same thing.”

But friends that matter, friends that will phone you cross-country in the middle of the night to bolster your spirits in the middle of a losing streak--you can’t do enough for those friends, Crawford believes.

“We just take care of each other,” said Crawford. “Somebody’s got to do it.”

He laughs.

“I mean, it’s not always gonna be your parents. After a while, they say, ‘Get out of here, you’ve been around us too long.’ After a while, you need to find someone else.”