March 17, 2007

CRICHTON vs. AUBURN-MONTGOMERY

 

Crichton Head Coach Jeff Walker

"It wasn't pretty but we'll take it.    We didn't guard anybody in the first half.  Our intensity wasn't there.  It was just a poor defensive effort.  In our transition game, when we had numbers, we'd turn the ball over. But give credit, AUM did a good job of stopping our transition.  We understand that in order for us to get our transition game going, we have to get stops first. We did a much better job in the second half.  .

 

"Getting here is not enough.  Our objective all along is to win the whole thing.  We had 3 goals this season.  Win the TranSouth regular season, win the conference tournament, win the national championship.

 

"Nerves are not an issue for us.  The TranSouth is a different conference now with us and Lambuth in it.  Union is a great team, and to be honest, Martin Methodist should have been here.  It's a war every night in the TranSouth.  With the all the rivalries and talent, it's a conference that prepares you for this tournament.

 

On Sylvania Watkins

"He's a warrior out there.  He played great today.  He's hurt again.  He tweaked his ankle when he got tangled up on that rebound that he fouled out on.  He's always hurt because he always

plays so hard."

 

CRICHTON vs. AUBURN-MONTGOMERY

 

AUM Head Coach Larry Chapman

On the last play of the game:

"We ran it for (Montrelle) Crittendon and then screened it for Robert (Johnson).  He had a good look."

 

On the AUM seniors:

"We're losing three great individuals in Joseph Manuel, Mario Lusk and Montrelle Crittendon.  My hat's off to them."

 

On the overall play of the team:

"We played about as well as we can plat, but the fouls we were burdened with really affected us.  I was really overwhelmed by our team's effort in this game."

 

"It's all about being a basketball family and these guys all play for the right reasons."

 

Overall assessment of the season:

"This was a great team - one of our greatest teams in 30 years of the program.  And I don't think there's any better expert on that issue than me."   (Chapman has been AUM head coach for 30 of the program's 33 years.)

 

ROBERT MORRIS vs. OKLAHOMA BAPTIST

 

RMC Head Coach Al Bruehl

"That was a tough game from a tough team from a tough conference."

 

"I think we played a little tight and took quick shots.  We did better on offense in the second half when we went small and made them cover us on the perimeter."

 

On his team`s shooting woes early in the game

"We're playing hard on defense, but we're out of sync on offense.  That could be their defense."

 

On the overtime

"I think their team was a little more tired.  They had some guys cramping up.  I think the foul-outs hurt them more than us."

 

On OBU missing free throws in the overtime

"We told our guys not to be afraid to foul their inside guys at the end."

 

RMC Senior Guard John Winchester, who hit a pair of threes in the overtime

When asked what gives him to confidence to fire in a clutch situation after missing a few shots:  "Everybody's got a role on the team.  My role is to spot up and hit the jumper.  My teammates found me open and when they do, I've got to come through for them."

 

"Coach says to put it up if I've got a good look."

 

OBU Head Coach Doug Tolin

"They may have worn us down a little bit, but the big difference was they made plays. We have played in a lot of tight games like this and I thought that might help us out, but it went the other way on us. They are really good."

 

"I don't think tempo was a big issue. We held them to fewer points in the first half than I thought we would. It wasn't the tempo that got us, it was just how good they are. To be able to step up and make the shots in a tight game like that takes a good team."

 

"We didn't have as good of balance offensively as we usually do today."

 

"We missed five free throws in a row. They go down and make their shots and instead of a two or three-point game its seven or eight."

 

"I told our seniors I appreciated them. Those are five special guys and they've done a lot to help OBU's reputation as a good team."

 

OBU Senior Mike Fraser

"They weren't hitting those outside shots in the first half, but when they started hitting them in the second half, it opened things up. We played really hard, but they played harder."

 

"We had a chance, we just didn't' finish. We got them in foul trouble and we just couldn't close it out as a team, myself included."

 

CONCORDIA VS. CAMPBELLSVILLE

 

Concordia Head Coach Ken Ammann

On instructions to his team after Campbellsville closed to within six points

"I didn't need to say much to them after (Campbellsville) made that run. We've been through that all year. Our league is so competitive like this was a competitive game. They knew what they needed to do, to get some stops on defense and keep scoring the ball."

 

On Campbellsville forward Zach Allender

"He's such a tough match up. He can really score it and he scores on everybody. We tried not to let him catch it, but we weren't as successful as we wanted."

 

On the offensive balance of the team

"It was nice that different people stepped up again today. Adam (Greenaway) got us going yesterday, Da Silva got us going today. Terrence (Worthy) was awesome once again. When it was an even game, he broke it open with a lot of great plays."

 

UNION (TENN.) VS. SOUTHERN NAZARENE

 

Storm Head coach Mike Broughton

What are your thoughts on today's game and what should you have done differently?

"We did not play very well on the offensive end and we kind of lost our Composure, Over all we did not do a very good job."

 

Union head coach Ralph Turner

"We struggled in the first half shooting the basketball.  I think we really were bothered by their pressure. "

 

"Mack Bealim has saved his best for the tournament as he followed his 23-point first round performance with 27 points in this win.  He has been such a leader for us this year and especially in the tournament.  He has played 73-of-80 minutes over the two games in the tournament.  We keep leaning on Mack and he keeps responding."

 

"In the second half, we handled the basketball much better against their pressure as we committed only four turnovers in the final 20 minutes.  We are able to stay close enough to win by valuing each possession and making them (SNU) work hard for every basket.  We cut down their (SNU) easy baskets in the second half that hurt us in the first half."

 

"SNU is a great team from a great conference and for our seven kids to go toe-to-toe with them for the entire game and hold on for the win was a great measure of the heart of these players."

 

AZUZA PACIFIC (CALIF.) VS. PARK

 

Azusa Head Coach Bill Odell

"That was a little different than the other night.  Getting off to a good start was so important for us.  We were making our shots and then it seemed like we were getting all the 50-50 balls and converting on them.  It was Demario's defense early on that got him going, and then I called plays specifically for Scott (Zea) to help him score early and get both of them going.  I didn't want a repeat of our game with Shreveport when neither of them scored until 6 minutes were left in the game.

 

"I knew it wasn't going to be a blowout game.  It was just a matter of everyone settling in.  For Park, once they realized that we knew everything they were going to do, they began to counter.  It just took them some time to adjust, but they did adjust.

 

"Voorhees and Nelson are very, very good, but they had to work for their points tonight.  I thought we did a great job on them, and they still scored a lot.  But they didn't have an open three all night, that I can remember.  Voorhees missed some key free throws, and I think it was because he was tired.  We wanted to make him work at both ends tonight.

"To be honest I wanted to go inside more than we did.  We wanted to make Voorhees work on defense.  There was a time I took Mike (Danielian) out of the game even though he was knocking down threes because he wasn't getting the ball inside for us so that we could work on Voorhees.

 

"Our bench was super.  Peter (Bond) and Mike (Danielian) making open looks seems to motivate the starters even more.  It was like they were very appreciative of their effort and said `okay, let's keep it going.'

 

"The ability to come with another energetic effort like this tomorrow night is in every man, because according to what everyone else says, we're playing the most talented team in the nation tomorrow night - Oklahoma City."

 

Park Head Coach Jason Kline

"We knew they were going to be on [Brandon Voorhees] like that, but he's done a pretty good job all year of making big shots and we were going to put it in his hands with Kevin [Nelson] on the bench.  If we had to do it all again we would do the same thing."

 

"I think we shot it well but defensively we didn't pick it up until the second half.  When you get down to the Sweet 16 you can't have spells of four or five minutes where you don't do anything very well on both ends of the ball.  We had been in the situation like we were in tonight a lot this year and this might be the first or second time we didn't come out with the win.  I give the guys all the credit in the world, we could have rolled over and they could have beaten by thirty but we fought back and gave ourselves a chance and that is all you can ask."

 

"We knew [Kevin Nelson] had the four fouls but with that much time on the clock we can't waste any [fouls] just trying to swing at someone else wildly.  We wanted to trap and get a steal first, then if we didn't we wanted to foul and make them beat us, and they did.  We didn't shoot free throws well tonight which we have most of the year. When we struggled a little bit this year the rebounding is has been a little different.  There was a gap in there, they out-rebounded us by 18 so that gives them a lot of extra opportunities."

 

NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE VS. XAVIER (La.)

 

Northwestern Head Coach Bob Battisti

"Our zone did what it was suppose to do; take away their penetration. Xavier stepped it up and hit three's to put us in jeopardy."

 

"We chose to go where no other Northwestern team has gone... to the Elite Eight."

 

"I thought Hansen hit a big three to tie the game at 55-55. He definitely hunts the big shot."

 

Xavier Head Coach Dannton Jackson

On the game and the stretch run:

"I thought it was a great game with both teams evenly matched.  We just missed some free throws down the stretch and had some turnovers in the last couple of minutes.  We the opportunity to win with the small lead with about two and half minutes to go and we made some mistakes down the stretch, that is inevitable with a young team.  We are proud of our guys, the way we came back and played this year.  It was right there, inches, the really small things."

 

On where the team has come since Hurricane Katrina:

"We have overcome a lot.  We have a very young team with three guys on our team that don't have any college experience.  We are very proud of where we have come from with not fielding a team last year and none of our guys having a chance to play.  This is what college basketball is all about, our guys really believed in each other, they came together at the right time, and they peaked at the right time.  It is phenomenal for us to even be here after not being able to field a team [last season], for us to have a group of guys who never played together, to have the youngest team in Xavier history, and one of the most successful teams in Xavier history.  It is definitely a testament not only to the individual guys, but to the University and the city [of New Orleans].  Back home the student body was watching at the student center, we have great school spirit and great student support and that is what college basketball is all about.  After the loss it is definitely difficult because it is one that we thought we let slip away, but that is part of basketball and college athletics, the breaks, the highs and lows, that is part of what we do."

 

On next season:

"I am exited about next year with the team we have, we have a good recruiting class coming in as well.  We need to address size because down the stretch they were able to go inside a little bit and we need to get deeper, the guys played a lot of minutes tonight.  Right now coming off a tough a loss I told our guys that we need to evaluate where we are and be smart enough to make those improvements and mature enough to get better."

 

FAULKNER vs. MCKENDREE

 

Faulkner senior guard Jammie Evans (scored 2 points in opening round, 25 against McKendree)

"My teammates kept encouraging me after last night. I knew I was going to have be a part of things tonight, and it feels great to have contributed. The plan was to take the ball to the basket and free up some shooters, and we were able to accomplish some things.''

 

Faulkner guard Richarde McCray (23 points and 11 rebounds for the all-conference junior ... six straight free throws in the final 1:30)

"For the second straight night we had to hit free throws late, and we were able to do that. Coach told us that we'd get McKendree's best in the second half and we certainly did. They're a very good team and you can tell they're well coached. We knew it would be this kind of game - it's the national tournament.''

 

Faulkner head coach Jim Sanderson (third elite eight appearance in last eight years - 2000, 2001, 2007)

"McKendree did some great things late in the game, and that's a credit to how they're coached. I think we got on our heals a bit, but made the free throws when we had to. Jammie Evans was the MVP tonight - a blind man could have seen that. Tomorrow we're playing a team that plays a tough 1-3-1 zone, and that will be a challenge for us.''

 

McKendree College head coach Harry Statham

"I give a lot of credit to Faulkner. They have a good inside-outside game. Their big guys were able to get some baskets early, and that allowed their perimeter game to be that much more effective. They certainly are a quick team and like to push it up the floor."

 

"Faulkner was strong to the basket, and it was spread around. Their guards consistently penetrated. They also made some key free throws at key times."

 

"We had a lot of good looks early but we couldn't get shots to fall. But I credit our guys, too. They showed they were playing right down to the wire. We made a nice comeback but just couldn't get over that hump."

 

Statham on senior forward Mike Strobbe

"Mike has had a tremendous career at McKendree. He was a durable player and battled through a lot of injuries. He' s a warrior. I'm glad he had a double-double in his last game. He has been strong for us."