Thursday, March 19, 1998
By SCOTT M. JOHNSON
Enterprise staff writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- No one panicked. No one hung his head. Everyone thought the game was under control.
Then there were the five players on the floor, who looked like long-tailed cats in a roomful of rocking chairs.
UC Davis men's basketball coach Bob Williams, with his team in danger of getting blown out of the Commonwealth Convention Center at the Division II Elite Eight on Wednesday, had to find someone with veins of ice.
So he went to his bench.
When Jonathan Surface sank two consecutive shots from 3-point range, Williams went back to the bench. A Scott Darmstadt 3-pointer. Two bombs from J.P. Bergez. While the UCD starters couldn't find a rhythm early in Wednesday's game, the reserves sounded like sweet bluegrass music.
``We were nervous,'' Williams said after his team rallied from an early 13-point deficit to beat West Texas A&M 63-55 to advance into today's semifinals. ``This is the Elite Eight. We've never been here before. We played a little tight.
`` That's maybe a good sign, because we've had a pretty positive attitude for the last few days. We were alive, and we were ready to play. Maybe our nerves were just a little too tightly strung.''
The victory put UCD into a semifinal matchup with St. Rose (N.Y.) at 3 p.m. The Golden Knights, who were led by Ryan Halliday's 28 points and seven 3-pointers, went to overtime to beat Fairmont State (W.Va.) 77-73 in their quarterfinal.
For awhile, it looked as if St. Rose's opponent would be West Texas A&M.
From the outset, UCD's starting five characteristically looked like a team playing in the first Elite Eight in school history. The Aggies missed their first three shots badly and turned the ball over three other times in falling behind 11-2. Soon, West Texas' margin ballooned to 19-6.
``I was extremely nervous,'' sophomore starter Jason Cox said. ``I can't speak for them, but the way we played the first six or seven minutes, it seemed like we were all really nervous. Hopefully the same thing won't happen (against St. Rose) because it's a better team, and they'll pretty much bury us right there.''
After the initial shock, reserves like Surface, Darmstadt, Bergez and Travon Dugar came bail all the water out of UCD's sinking ship.
``I think once Surface started hitting, and I came in and hit a couple, I think that sort of calmed them down,'' said Bergez, whose two 3-pointers accounted for all six of his points. ``We were like, `OK, now we're ready, let's get a lead and see what happens.'
``... The natural tendency is to come in and say, `Let's get it all back in a hurry.' But there is no 10-point shot out here. You've just got to chip away.''
Before long, the Aggies were ahead, taking a 27-26 lead with 6:22 remaining in the first half before scoring the final 12 points before halftime.
``I think our bench really helped us in the first half,'' Williams said. ``They came out, and they weren't frustrated. They were a little bit more aggressive and did more attacking. When we put our starters back in, they became the same way: very aggressive, very attacking.''
As has been the case all season, Williams did not care who got the job done, as long as they were wearing a UCD uniform.
``Obviously we're very, very pleased to get the first win out of the way, especially overcoming the jitters we had early in the game,'' Williams said. ``We saw a very good West Texas team, and they shot the ball better than we anticipated. We didn't expect anybody to come in and shoot the ball quite the way they did early. But it's nice to get that great play coming off the bench.''
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