Sunday, March 22, 1998
By SCOTT M. JOHNSON
Enterprise staff writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Rec Hall's trophy case is hardly without hardware. With two Sears Cups and four national championships, the UC Davis athletic program is decorated for success.
But Saturday, the Aggies gained their most improbable piece of hardware.
UCD beat all the odds to win the first NCAA Division II men's basketball championship in school history with an 83-77 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan.
``We've been together this whole year, but this week just kind of sums it up,'' UCD point guard Dante Ross said. ``Who would've believed that we'd be here right now talking about this? It's a feeling I can't describe.''
The Aggies, unranked in the preseason, came into the hostile confines of the Commonwealth Convention Center and shocked the Panthers by starting strong and responding to a late run.
Jason Cox sank a go-ahead 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining and then had a victory clinching block 22 seconds later to make the Aggies the first non-scholarship school to win the men's basketball title.
``For our group to come back here and win this in our first appearance in the Elite Eight is amazing,'' an understandably emotional coach Bob Williams said. ``What this group of 14 kids did is amazing. I'll guarantee that it's not sunk in yet to any of them or to our coaching staff completely.''
``It's also kind of good for the little guy, because we were not the one that was picked here. The performance that these guys put on the floor and the way they came up big at crunch time was a nice nod for the little guy, the little cinderella slipper.''
It was the big guy who had another outstanding performance for UCD (31-2). Cox, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, nailed the 3-pointer to put the Aggies ahead 79-77 after Kentucky Wesleyan had come back from an 11-point deficit to take a late lead.
``We drew it up like that in the huddle. We talked about getting Cox open and letting him hit the 3 and getting us up,'' Williams joked before turning serious. ``Any one of these guys knows that if they feel it, they're allowed to shoot it. If you've watched Cox this tournament, he's been feeling it. For him to get an open look at that time and to have the guts to step up and knock it down is special, but it does not surprise me.''
``It surprised the hell out of me,'' Cox said. ``I don't know what I was really thinking. If I had been thinking at the time, I probably wouldn't have pulled it. But I guess that's what the beauty of this game is, you can start to get in a little zone, and I put it up there.''
Kentucky Wesleyan, which was playing in front of a partisan crowd of 3,420, had a chance to tie the game before a costly turnover forced the Panthers to foul down the stretch.
Point guard Patrick Critchelow found an opening in UCD's defense and drove into the lane for what looked to be an easy layup. But Critchelow lost the ball after he faked Ross into the air.
``The lane was wide open, and nine times out of 10 I would have made a layup, so I just got all excited, and they put good pressure and I lost the ball,'' Critchelow said.
Ross said he may have gotten away with one.
``I'm not sure what happened,'' Ross said. ``At that point, I thought they were going to call a foul, and they didn't, and he kind of turned the ball over. I was surprised as everyone else was. I'm not going to argue with the call.''
After the Aggies inbounded the ball, Ross nailed two free throws to give UCD an 81-77 cushion.
Kentucky Wesleyan then sent the ball into leading scorer Dana Williams, who had 19 points for the Panthers (30-3). Williams shot through a collapsing defense, but Cox glided over and blocked it.
Ross added two free throws with 13 seconds remaining to account for the final margin.
Despite being billed as the underdog, seventh-ranked UCD jumped out to an 8-3 lead on No. 3 Wesleyan, then exchanged runs with the Panthers to lead 43-35 at halftime. Kentucky Wesleyan clawed back throughout the second half and finally took a 70-67 lead with 5:11 when Antonio Garcia capped a 10-point run by following his own missed layup.
The teams exchanged the lead three more times before Cox's 3-pointer put the Aggies on top for good.
``The highlight of my trip is to play in the national championship game and win a national championship on national TV in front of so many millions of people who are watching,'' Cox said. ``That's something that you never get to experience.''
Said athletic director Greg Warzecka, whose department has won two Sears Cups during his tenure but never a national title, ``I think it's huge for the university to get that type of exposure. It was an opportunity for more people around the country to get to know the Aggies and to show the type of athletic program we have at UC Davis. We're very proud of it.''
The players were proud of the way the team proved that national championships could be won with balanced scoring and dedication. While Cox led the way with 18 points, six players had at least eight points.
``That's been the trademark of our team all season, is different guys stepping up when we need them to,'' said guard J.C. Timmons, who scored 12 points. ``This being the national championship, it's not going to be any different. This is the biggest game of the year, and we had five guys in double figures.''
That balance made an impression on Kentucky Wesleyan coach Ray Harper, whose team will return all but one player next season.
``They were the best team we played,'' Harper said. ``They're disciplined, good passers and good shooters. They compete, and they play very well together. They may not have the most individual talent, but as far as a team, they were the best team we played.''
UCD senior Travon Dugar said the national title was the result of hard work and playing together as a team.
``It's every adjective you could imagine,'' Dugar said. ``I think every player, from one to 14, was in tears. Everyone cheered. We had every emotion.''
``I think it's going to last forever, too,'' teammate Rick Gonzales added. ``I think it's going to be something that hits you every month.''
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