It’s Flash Forward to NCAAs for Kent

After waiting 47 years to celebrate a Mid-American Conference championship, at least one Kent University player was willing to wait a little longer.

Kent earned its first NCAA tournament berth with a 49-43 victory over Miami of Ohio in the Mid-American Conference championship game in Toledo, Ohio on Wednesday night.

“It’s very satisfying, but I want to put everything into perspective,” said junior center John Whorton after Kent’s fans stormed the court at SeaGate Centre. “Sure, we won and we won a MAC championship, but we don’t want to just go to the NCAA tournament, we want to win there.”

The Golden Flashes, 23-6 overall, had made it to the MAC tournament final three other times, losing by a total of five points. In 47 years in the Mid-American Conference, they had never won a regular-season or tournament title.

After beating Ohio University, 68-57, in the semifinals on Tuesday night, Kent Coach Gary Waters said he was stunned when he walked into the locker room to find the players sitting around instead of yelling and enjoying the moment.

“I said, ‘Hey, you guys just won a game!’ But they said, ‘We’re not ready to celebrate until we win a championship,’ ” Waters said.

Whorton led Kent with 18 points, making seven of 11 shots.

Mid-American player of the year Wally Szczerbiak, slowed because of a sprained knee, had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Miami of Ohio (22-7), but made only four of 17 shots.

“We tried to tire him . . . and send as many people as we could at him,” said Kyrem Massey, who guarded Szczerbiak.

Kent, one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the Mid-American, scored its final seven points on free throws, five in the final 49 seconds.

Kent finished second in the seven-team East Division of the Mid-American to Miami of Ohio after being picked to finish sixth in media poll.

“That just goes back to a lack of respect,” Whorton said. “We’ve been trying to get respect all year but it didn’t happen. We were underdogs all year. It motivated us.”

Waters’ postgame interview took place in the same room where he first learned of Kent’s low preseason prediction during a conference media day.

“I was asked what I thought about being picked sixth and I said, ‘Well, it’s going to make me look like a good coach,’ ” he said with a laugh. “But this? This is amazing.”

ATLANTIC 10

Rolan Roberts scored 19 points for Virginia Tech (13-14) in a 74-63 victory over Fordham (12-15) in a first-round game at Philadelphia. Virginia Tech plays East Division champion Temple (19-9) today. . . . Mark Ashman’s basket with 1:01 left in overtime to put Dayton (11-16) ahead for good in a 70-69 win over St. Bonaventure (14-15). West Division championship George Washington (19-7) plays Dayton today. . . . Monty Mack made 10 of 16 shots, including six from three-point range, and had 27 points to lead Massachusetts (14-15) to an 80-70 victory over Duquesne (5-23). Xavier (20-9) is today’s opponent for Massachusetts. . . . Donnie Carr had 21 points for LaSalle (13-14) in an 81-54 victory over St. Joseph’s (12-18) in the 100th game between the Philadelphia schools. St. Joseph’s leads the series, 54-46. LaSalle plays Rhode Island (17-12) today.

BIG EAST

Former Georgetown Coach John Thompson, at the tournament in New York as an announcer for a Washington D.C. radio station, watched the Hoyas (15-14) win a first-round game, 68-66, over Providence (16-13). Two free throws by Ruben Boumtje Boumtje in the last 1:23 accounted for the final points by Georgetown, which plays Miami (21-5) today. In an interview, Thompson asked Boumtje Boumtje, “Were you nervous [shooting the free throws]” to which the player quickly replied, “Can I see your press credential first, please.” Georgetown’s first game after Thompson’s resignation as coach was a 75-70 victory over Providence.

Syracuse (20-10) scored the game’s first 12 points in a 103-70 victory over Boston College (6-21)--the most-decisive outcome in the history of the tournament. Syracuse’s opponent today will be Villanova, a 73-61 winner over West Virginia. John Celestand scored 13 of his career-high 26 points in a 7:19 span of the second half for Villanova (21-9). West Virginia (10-19) reached the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 last season. . . . Seton Hall (15-13) will play regular-season Big East champion Connecticut (25-2) today after a 79-69 victory over Notre Dame (14-16). The Pirates had lost to the Irish twice in the regular season. . . . Rutgers (18-11) kept its NCAA tournament hopes alive with a 64-51 victory over Pittsburgh (14-16) and will play St. John’s (23-7). Pittsburgh Coach Ralph Willard, who resigned during the season, had only seven players available because of injuries or suspensions.

CONFERENCE USA

Freshman Quentin Richardson, named the Conference USA player of the year earlier in the day, scored 17 points to lead DePaul (17-11) to a 95-59 win over Tulane (12-15) in a first-round at Birmingham, Ala. Richardson, who led the conference in rebounding and was second in scoring, made five of six three-point shots. He didn’t start because of an ankle injury. DePaul plays Alabama Birmingham (19-10) today.

Freshman Altron Jackson scored a career-high 22 points, including a layup with 5.3 seconds to play to force overtime, for South Florida (14-13) in 88-81 victory over Memphis (13-15). Regular-season conference champion Cincinnati (25-4) plays South Florida today. . . . Saint Louis (15-15) will play Louisville (17-9) today after a 59-52 victory over Marquette (14-16). Saint Louis Coach Charlie Spoonhour has hinted he will retire when the season ends, while Marquette Coach Mike Deane will reportedly be fired. . . . North Carolina Charlotte (19-10) will play Southern Mississippi (14-15) today after a 75-51 victory over Houston, which was 10-17 in its first season under Clyde Drexler.

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

Mid-Eastern Athletic--Regular-season conference champion South Carolina State (16-11) didn’t take the lead until two minutes remained in its 61-56 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore (10-17) in a quarterfinal game at Richmond, Va. South Carolina State plays the winner of today’s Morgan State (13-13)-Hampton (8-18) game on Friday. . . . Monroe Pippen had 23 points to lead Florida A&M; (10-18) to an 80-69 victory over Coppin State (15-14) in a quarterfinal game. Florida A&M; plays the winner of today’s Bethune-Cookman (11-15)-North Carolina A&T; (12-14) game on Friday.

Southland--Franklin Paul scored 27 points to lead five double-figure scorers for McNeese State (13-14) in a 100-87 victory over Nicholls State (14-15) in a first-round game at Shreveport, La. McNeese State, which plays regular-season conference champion Southwest Texas State (18-8) on Friday, has averaged 92 points in an eight-game winning streak. . . . Matt Sunblad had 27 points for Lamar (17-10) in a 90-71 victory over Northeast Louisiana (13-14). Lamar plays Texas San Antonio (16-10) on Friday.

Western Athletic--Renaldo Bratton took an inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor to score on a layup with one second remaining to give Southern Methodist (14-14) a 65-64 victory over Texas El Paso (16-12) in a late Tuesday night first-round game at Las Vegas. Southern Methodist plays Mountain Division champion Nevada Las Vegas (16-11) today.