Post by Aggie77 on Feb 25, 2007 14:58:01 GMT -5
I hate I missed this one!! Sounds like a good one. Normally I would have made the trek down to Tidewater. Damn relatives, anybody want some more!!
Rush can't miss at Norfolk St.
Steven Rush sets an N.C. A&T record for 3-point baskets
By Tris Wykes
Landmark News Service
"This may have been one of the best college basketball games I've ever seen. I hate that one team had to lose.''
Jerry Eaves,
N.C. A&T coachNORFOLK, Va. -- He made 3-point shots with his feet set and with his body flying sideways through the air. He sank them from the corners, from the wings and atop the key. Steven Rush was almost unstoppable Saturday night in carrying the N.C. A&T men's basketball team to a 104-99 double-overtime victory against Norfolk State.
Rush scored 14 of his career-high 35 points in the overtimes and was the trigger man on each of the Aggies' four treys after regulation time expired. His 9-of-14 shooting from behind the arc set a school record for successful 3-point shots in a game.
"He shot what some people would consider bad shots,'' Norfolk State coach Dwight Freeman said. "He was coming off screens, turning and jumping and shooting all at the same time. We tried to slow him up, but nothing seemed to work."
"I come to play my heart out every game," Rush said. "I wasn't thinking about breaking records (Saturday night) but my teammates found me ... and I just knocked them down.''
The victory lifted the Aggies (9-7 MEAC, 13-15 overall) into a tie with Hampton for fifth place in the MEAC and knocked the Spartans (8-8, 8-18) down to seventh place.
N.C. A&T visits Hampton (9-7, 13-14) at 8 p.m. on Monday.
The Spartans, who have lost five consecutive games, need to win their last two regular-season games and hope for help to avoid playing in the first two days of the conference tournament, March 6-10 in Raleigh.
Finishing fifth or higher means a team needs to win only three games to claim the tournament title. Landing in sixth or below adds a play-in game to the task.
Norfolk State used a 12-0 run in the first half's final four minutes to lead 46-38 at the break. The Spartans led 59-45 four minutes into the second half but N.C. A&T rallied for a 73-72 edge with six minutes remaining in the half before trailing 80-79 with 1:49 left.
Norfolk State's Tony Murphy came to the charity stripe for two shots with 35 seconds to play in the half but hit one. Rush and Greg Roberts missed shots on NCAT's ensuing possession before Jason Wills drove the lane and Spartans' center Calvin Brown fouled out by smacking him.
With 10 seconds left, Wills sank both free throws for an 81-81 tie that led to an initial overtime.
Murphy was again at the free-throw line with 2:24 left in the first overtime and the Spartans up 91-86. Again, he sank one shot and Rush hit two 3-point attempts, sandwiched around an errant one by Norfolk State's Rashid Cann. Norfolk State's Brandon Plummer drove the lane and put a shot off the rim as time expired.
N.C. A&T led 97-96 with a minute left in the second overtime when Rush put in a long 3-point shot over Murphy.
The Aggies then made 4 of 6 free throws to seal their victory.
"I feel too bad for anyone in the city of Norfolk who wasn't here (Saturday night) because they missed a whale of a ballgame,'' said Aggies coach Jerry Eaves, a starter on Louisville's 1980 NCAA championship team.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2007
The News & Record
and Landmark Communications, Inc.
Rush can't miss at Norfolk St.
Steven Rush sets an N.C. A&T record for 3-point baskets
By Tris Wykes
Landmark News Service
"This may have been one of the best college basketball games I've ever seen. I hate that one team had to lose.''
Jerry Eaves,
N.C. A&T coachNORFOLK, Va. -- He made 3-point shots with his feet set and with his body flying sideways through the air. He sank them from the corners, from the wings and atop the key. Steven Rush was almost unstoppable Saturday night in carrying the N.C. A&T men's basketball team to a 104-99 double-overtime victory against Norfolk State.
Rush scored 14 of his career-high 35 points in the overtimes and was the trigger man on each of the Aggies' four treys after regulation time expired. His 9-of-14 shooting from behind the arc set a school record for successful 3-point shots in a game.
"He shot what some people would consider bad shots,'' Norfolk State coach Dwight Freeman said. "He was coming off screens, turning and jumping and shooting all at the same time. We tried to slow him up, but nothing seemed to work."
"I come to play my heart out every game," Rush said. "I wasn't thinking about breaking records (Saturday night) but my teammates found me ... and I just knocked them down.''
The victory lifted the Aggies (9-7 MEAC, 13-15 overall) into a tie with Hampton for fifth place in the MEAC and knocked the Spartans (8-8, 8-18) down to seventh place.
N.C. A&T visits Hampton (9-7, 13-14) at 8 p.m. on Monday.
The Spartans, who have lost five consecutive games, need to win their last two regular-season games and hope for help to avoid playing in the first two days of the conference tournament, March 6-10 in Raleigh.
Finishing fifth or higher means a team needs to win only three games to claim the tournament title. Landing in sixth or below adds a play-in game to the task.
Norfolk State used a 12-0 run in the first half's final four minutes to lead 46-38 at the break. The Spartans led 59-45 four minutes into the second half but N.C. A&T rallied for a 73-72 edge with six minutes remaining in the half before trailing 80-79 with 1:49 left.
Norfolk State's Tony Murphy came to the charity stripe for two shots with 35 seconds to play in the half but hit one. Rush and Greg Roberts missed shots on NCAT's ensuing possession before Jason Wills drove the lane and Spartans' center Calvin Brown fouled out by smacking him.
With 10 seconds left, Wills sank both free throws for an 81-81 tie that led to an initial overtime.
Murphy was again at the free-throw line with 2:24 left in the first overtime and the Spartans up 91-86. Again, he sank one shot and Rush hit two 3-point attempts, sandwiched around an errant one by Norfolk State's Rashid Cann. Norfolk State's Brandon Plummer drove the lane and put a shot off the rim as time expired.
N.C. A&T led 97-96 with a minute left in the second overtime when Rush put in a long 3-point shot over Murphy.
The Aggies then made 4 of 6 free throws to seal their victory.
"I feel too bad for anyone in the city of Norfolk who wasn't here (Saturday night) because they missed a whale of a ballgame,'' said Aggies coach Jerry Eaves, a starter on Louisville's 1980 NCAA championship team.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2007
The News & Record
and Landmark Communications, Inc.
