Men's Basketball
UC Sent Packing by A-B
March 3, 2006
By Mitch Vingle
Sports Editor, The Charleston Gazette
Apparently the West Virginia Conference tournament belongs to Alderson-Broaddus coach Greg Zimmerman.
The rest of us are here simply to marvel.
On Thursday, A-B won its 14th tournament game in 15 tries under Zimmerman, defeating the University of Charleston 65-50 in a men’s quarterfinal matchup at the Civic Center. The Battlers (22-5) will face West Virginia State in the semifinals at 8:30 tonight.
"Good players,’’ said Zimmerman when asked about his record. "Good kids who do what they’re asked to do.’’
Alderson-Broaddus, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, is a lock to make the NCAA Division II East Regional, but still needs help and probably a tournament crown to play host to the event.
For Charleston, the season is over after entering as a No. 8 seed and finishing 18-11.
"We picked a tough night to have a tough shooting night,’’ said UC coach Greg White. "A lot of it was A-B. We could never get over the hump.’’
Charleston held Alderson-Broaddus to 38 percent shooting and the 65 points. The Battlers averaged 84.3 points and 48 percent shooting during the regular season.
"Any time you hold A-B to 65 points you have to feel good about it,’’ White said. "But we had long periods when we couldn’t put the ball in the basket.’’
Like the nearly 13-minute stretch to start the second half in which UC had but one field goal.
"Defensively, we were good all night long,’’ A-B’s Zimmerman said. "Offensively, we got off to a hot start, then got impatient. But we were good defensively the whole way.’’
The Battlers, in fact, held the Golden Eagles to their lowest point output of the season. But there was still drama in the second half — even when the A-B lead hit double digits — because of UC’s show in the first half.
White was burning timeouts left and right early in the first half as A-B built a 31-11 lead at the 8:23 mark. In the remaining 8:23, though, the Golden Eagles stormed back.
UC was in a jam. And it got out on the strength of Eric Smith jams. At 7:02, Zimmerman was the one calling for a timeout. Three Dustin Kinney buckets and a pair of Richard Hampton baskets to close the half helped UC to a 20-2 run. The Eagles trailed just 33-31 at halftime.
"It was a great feeling,’’ Smith said of the rally. "We knew what we were capable of. We had an energy. But this is basketball. You have swings. We came out slow in the second half and it cost us.’’
Charleston fell behind 50-39 to start the second half before Smith dunked after a Robert Siwo poke-away. The Eagles, though, could never mount a charge, mostly because of A-B’s Zach Green, who attended both Scott and Logan high schools. Green also held Siwo, UC’s "go-to’’ man, according to White, to 4-of-13 shooting and 14 points. The Golden Eagles made but 3-of-15 3-point attempts.
"[Siwo] moves incredibly without the ball,’’ Green said. "I just tried to keep him at arm’s length and contest all his shots. I think I contested his shots all night.’’
Green was the game’s leading scorer with 18 points, while teammate Derrick Bell, a first-team All-WVC selection, had 14. Sam Clancy had 12 rebounds.
Smith had 15 points for UC.