UC Davis to play for title: Durkee delivers down stretch in 88-76 semifinal win over St. Rose

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Southern hospitality can be infectious. It also can be fatal if you let it. Thursday, the UC Davis men's basketball team almost let it.

While a 23-point, second-half lead was dwindling to five with eight minutes remaining, and their best inside player was on the bench with four fouls, the Aggies' run at the Division II national championship looked as if it was crumbling faster than a piece of Colonel Sanders' extra crispy chicken.

But Justis Durkee, the Aggie in foul trouble, came off the bench to "play like a man" down the stretch and lead the Aggies to an 88-76 win over the College of St. Rose of New York in the semifinals of the Elite Eight at the Commonwealth Convention Center.

Davis (30-2) will play Kentucky Wesleyan (28-4) in Saturday's national championship game. The Panthers defeated Virginia Union 80-72 in the other semifinal.

"I'm not sure what you are supposed to say in a moment like this," Aggies coach Bob Williams said after the game. "When you have a chance to play for the national championship. . . obviously we couldn't be happier or more proud of our basketball team. This is a great achievement by a great group of kids."

Behind sophomore Jason Cox, Davis took a 42-28 halftime lead. The 6-foot-6 center scored 22 of his career-high 27 points in the first half and also finished with eight rebounds and five blocked shots.

"The first half, I saw a lot of open looks and I came in feeling really confident about my shot," Cox said. "I had a chance to put those two together, and it turned out real nice."

With 12:05 left in the game, Durkee, who despite his 6-4 frame has played well all season against much-taller players, received his fourth foul. It appeared Durkee only touched the Golden Knights' 6-10 Damon Reed. Nevertheless, Durkee was summoned to the bench with the Aggies leading 57-39.

"I thought they were calling them a little close," Durkee said. "I'm only 6-4 going against a 6-10 guy and they kept calling these little touches."

With Durkee on the bench and St. Rose hitting four straight three-pointers, Davis appeared to be tightening up.

When the Aggies' lead was cut to 63-56 with 9:25 left, Williams sent Durkee back in.

"Fogs (assistant Brian Fogle) looks at me and says, 'He has four,' when I put him back in," Williams said. "When you are playing in the semifinals of a national championship tournament, I'm not going to let our best inside player, one of the reasons we are where we are today, sit next to me and watch the lead dwindle. He's got to be in the game, and if he fouls out, he fouls out.

"I tell the players you can't be afraid, can't play scared. I can't coach scared. Justis did a phenomenal job of staying out of foul trouble, getting big rebounds and finishing inside.

"It was 'Justis Time' down the stretch. He played like a man and took the game over."

After the Golden Knights (27-6) twice cut the lead to five, Durkee took over a final time. With the Aggies ahead 67-62 with six minutes left, Durkee scored eight of his 16 points down the stretch and held Reed scoreless from the field.

Reed had only five free throws after Durkee re-entered, and Durkee also kept him off the backboards. Dante Ross hit four successive free throws in the last 90 seconds to help hold off St. Rose.

"When I went back in, there was nothing else to do but play hard and keep doing all the things I had been doing," said Durkee, who led the Aggies in rebounds with nine. "If the ref calls the fifth foul, you just have to accept it."

St. Rose coach Brian Beaury was pleased with his team's comeback.

"In typical St. Rose fashion, we dug ourselves a deep hole," Beaury said. "But we never gave up. We fought until the final buzzer."

Williams put a positive spin on the Aggies' near-collapse in the second half.

"St. Rose is a good team, and you don't keep a good team down 40 minutes," he said. "They make a run and now, as a tribute to the character of our team, we stand up to that run.

"Durkee takes over, Dante breaks their press and makes the free throws when they foul him, and the kids play smart.

"There are not a whole lot of secrets to this game. These guys are very good players, very smart players, and when the game is on the line, they make good decisions.

"That's why we are 30-2 and playing for a national championship."