Game Takes U-Turn With a Drive Down Edney Way

The last cut was the deepest, a left-to-right move through the lane that completed Shaheen Holloway’s length-of-the-court scramble and gave him room to toss an underhand shot as he neared the basket with 1.9 seconds to play in overtime.

The ball banked high off the backboard and through the net to give Seton Hall a 72-71 overtime victory over Oregon Friday in the first round of the NCAA East Regional at HSBC Arena.

Two free throws by Frederick Jones put No. 7-seeded Oregon (22-8) ahead, 71-70, with 8.7 seconds to play. Holloway took the inbounds pass, bolted to his left after crossing mid-court, then cut right and penetrated.

“As a little kid I saw people do this and I wanted to be part of it,” Holloway said. “I saw Tyus Edney do it [against Missouri] for UCLA the year [1995] they won it. I was fortunate enough to have my shot fall.”

The play, called “quick,” was designed for Holloway, a 5-foot-10 senior who scored a game-high 27 points, to take it all the way.

“We wanted to get it into Shaheen’s hands no matter what,” Coach Tommy Amaker said. “We will go as far as our seniors take us, especially that little guy.”

Said Oregon Coach Ernie Kent: “In hindsight, there isn’t a lot you could do. We put our biggest, quickest defender on him in [Alex] Scales, and we double-teamed the ball in the backcourt to make him take some of the time off so it would be a hurried shot situation.”

It was the first tournament victory since 1993 for No. 10-seeded Seton Hall (21-9). cond half.

Seton Hall, with the exception of one possession, led the entire game until the final two minutes, when reserve forward Bryan Bracey scored six points to give Oregon a chance to win in regulation. But Rimas Kaukenas sliced through defenders to score on a layup with 3.3 seconds to pull Seton Hall even at 64-64, and force overtime.

A.D. Smith scored 17 points--15 in the first half--for Oregon and Scales had 16.

Temple 73, Louisiana Lafayette 47-- Pepe Sanchez was the talk of the No. 2 Owls’ victory over the No. 15 Leopards of the Patriot League, even though he didn’t make a shot.

Sanchez had a career-high 15 assists, consistently finding teammates such as Quincy Wadley (17 points) and Mark Karcher (15 points), and was more than happy to let them do the scoring.

“I think Pepe is really the key to our team,” said Lynn Greer, who scored 13 points. “He gets the whole offense moving, he finds guys, we just knock down the shots. He gives us the ball where we need it.”

When he decided to shoot, it was a different story. Sanchez missed all three attempts. He hasn’t made a shot in 10 attempts in Temple’s last three games.

Sanchez assisted on the first four baskets for Temple (27-5).. The Owls led, 38-20, at halftime and cruised throughout the second half.

Sanchez left the game after getting his last assist with 4:09 to play and Temple leading, 67-45.

“I don’t really have a philosophy of not shooting the ball,” Sanchez said. “I just take things in the game the way they come. If I have my shots I will take them, if not I just try to make my team work well together.”

Temple, with its storied match-up zone, held Lafayette (24-7) to 36% shooting, and hand had a 51-33 rebounding advantage which made up for poor shooting from the field (38.6%) and on free throws. (38%).

Temple plays Seton Hall in the second round Sunday.

Oklahoma State 86, Hofstra 66--Hampered only slightly by a finger injury suffered midway through the first half, Craig “Speedy” Claxton couldn’t do enough to get the No. 14 Flying Dutchmen (24-7) of the America East Conference close to the No. 3 Cowboys (25-6).

Claxton had 20 points, careening from spectacular plays to forced shots. But the 5-11 senior was fun to watch.

Oklahoma State led, 43-26, at halftime behind 13 points by forward Desmond Mason, and never let Hofstra get closer than 15 in the second half.

Mason, a 6-5 senior, made 11 of 17 shots and finished with 30 points. Fredrik Jonzen had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Doug Gottlieb, a product of Tustin High, had eight assists.

Oklahoma State plays Pepperdine in the second round Sunday.