Wednesday, March 18, 1998
By SCOTT M. JOHNSON
Enterprise staff writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- By the time the internal alarm clocks went off, it was almost too late.
But the UC Davis men's basketball team woke up just in time to rally from a big early deficit for a 63-55 win over West Texas A&M in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals at the Commonwealth Convention Center this morning.
Now the Aggies will face either St. Rose (N.Y.) or Fairmont State (W.Va.) at 3 p.m. in Thursday's Final Four.
Having to play a morning game on the road had early effects on UCD, which tipped off at 9:30 a.m. on the West Coast. The Aggies came out lethargic, as West Texas A&M scored the first eight points of the game.
While the Buffaloes were burning UCD's zone with 3-point shooting, the Aggies were looking like a team that was still in the Pacific time zone. Jason Cox turned the ball over on UCD's first possession. Justis Durkee threw up a 3-foot airball. Chris Vlasic badly missed a 3-pointer and then threw the ball away on the team's next possession.
The best thing that happened to the Aggies in the first five minutes was that a blocking call on West Texas' Michael Hamelin wiped out a vicious blocked shot by Donnell Harrison. J.C. Timmons hit two free throws to end the Buffaloes' eight-point run.
West Texas hit three more 3s to open up a 19-6 lead before UCD woke up. Jonathan Surface came off the bench to hit two 3-pointers and reserves Scott Darmstadt and J.P. Bergez also came in with hot hands, as the Aggies went on an 18-4 run. Cox capped off the run with an alley-oop dunk from Dante Ross to give UCD a 27-26 lead with 6:22 remaining in the first half.
West Texas' Sean Harrison responded with a 3, but the damage had been done. Suddenly the Buffaloes looked more like a deer in headlights. The Aggie defense held West Texas to three shots over the final 5 1/2 minutes of the half, and UCD scored the final 12 points to go into halftime with a 39-29 lead.
J.C. Timmons led the way with six quick points in the second half as the Aggies opened up a 52-34 lead 5 1/2 minutes into the second half on the way to their 20th consecutive win and first Final Four appearance in school history.
The Buffaloes did not give up, however, and cut the lead late in the game to six, but the Aggies made their free throws down the stretch to seal it.
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