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DAYTON, Ohio -- D. http://www.nflchiefsus.com/Womens-Zach-Fulton-Authentic-Jersey/ .J. Evans is charitably listed at 5-foot-9. His coach and teammates tease him that he looks a foot shorter. Yet he stood awfully tall for Albany on Tuesday night. Evans scored 22 points, including two clinching free throws with 12.6 seconds left, to lead the Great Danes to their first NCAA tournament victory, 71-64 over Mount St. Marys in the First Four. Evans, an often overlooked component in Albanys lineup, belied his height with nine rebounds to go with three assists. "Hes about 4-foot-8, so hes really impressive," laughed his running mate at guard, Peter Hooley, who had 20 points. "I dont think theres another 4-8 guard who could go in there and get that many boards. He did what he needed to do to get this win." It was a signature victory for the America East Conference tournament champs, who had come up empty in three previous trips to the big dance. "It means a lot," said an emotional coach Will Brown. "Theres no better feeling. Like I told our kids, were going to be in the history books at the University of Albany forever." The Great Danes (19-14) advance to meet overall No. 1 seed and top-ranked Florida on Thursday in Orlando. But that was a concern for another day. It was a wild game of incredible turnarounds, with the Great Danes bolting to leads of 13-0 and 21-2, only to have The Mount (16-17) bounce back with a 21-2 run of its own to pull even. Hooley, one of three Australians on the Albany roster, hit two free throws with 2:43 remaining to stretch the lead to 65-62. After Julian Norfleet countered with a bucket, Hooley again pounded his way to the basket and lofted a shot over a defender for a 67-64 lead at the 2-minute mark. It stayed that way with the teams missing big shots. Rashad Whack and Norfleet each missed potential tying 3s -- Whacks rolled almost inside the rim and then bounded away. "When it hit the rim, I thought it was going to go in," Whack said softly. Evans was fouled with 12.6 seconds left and hit both shots to increase the lead to five points -- and out of reach of another long-range shot. Evans was most proud of his rebounding. "They shot a lot of 3s and there were a lot of long rebounds," he said with a grin. "I was just at the right place at the right time." After playing two years of junior-college ball and sitting behind a senior starter a year ago, Brown told Evans his day would eventually come. "Hes the happiest kid in the world right now," Brown said. Norfleet then missed another 3 and Albany finally could call itself an NCAA winner. Will Miller, a freshman who came off the bench, led The Mount with 21 points, all on 3s. But he didnt get off a shot in the last 3:32 after making back-to-back 3s to draw the Mountaineers within a point. Whack added 16 points and Sam Prescott 14 for The Mount, which electrified the crowd at the University of Dayton with 3-point fireworks. The Mountaineers hit 12 of 37 shots behind the arc to time and again come back from deficits. The glut of 3-pointers was nothing new for the Mountaineers. They came in with an offence heavily dependent on shots behind the arc. They averaged 9 of 25 on 3-pointers coming in. Albany had made some racket in the NCAAs before, but had never come out on top. In 2006, the Great Danes led by double figures in the second half but lost to Connecticut, 72-59. A year later, they held their own before falling Virginia, 84-57. A year ago, as a 15 seed, they battled Duke throughout before coming up short, 73-61. Mount St. Marys was also making its fourth NCAA appearance, although it had won once before -- a victory over Coppin State in 2008 in the old format of an opening-round leading into the big tournament. Albany led 35-31 at the break, but that didnt tell the story of one bizarre half. The Mount couldnt do much right for the first 8-plus minutes. The Great Danes raced to a 13-0 lead. The Mountaineers missed misfired on their first 11 shots from the field, including six behind the arc. "A lot of teams would have folded," said Mount coach Jamion Christian. "Our guys didnt do that. They took the punch and they bounced back." Things quickly turned around, with Mount going on an 18-0 run. Like a couple of sparring partners, the teams kept trading flurries in the second half. Down 45-41, Albany went on a 10-1 run. Trailing 60-53, the Mountaineers scored nine of the next 12 capped by Millers two 3s to cut the deficit to a point. That set the stage for Evans to play like a giant. Jamaal Charles Camo Jersey . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. Alex Smith White Jersey . -- Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork says hes closer to achieving his goal of finishing his career with New England.SPOKANE, Wash. -- Adreian Payne sent Tom Izzo a text. He wants to leave a legacy. Consider it done. The 6-foot-10 senior played the game of his life Thursday, scoring a career-high 41 points to help fourth-seeded Michigan State look every bit like a March Madness favourite in a 93-78 victory over Delaware. "He was playing in another zone, not even in the ozone," Izzo said. "He was in Pluto and beyond." This marked the first 40-point performance in the NCAA tournament since Stephen Curry did it for Davidson in a win over Gonzaga in 2008. Payne set a school tournament scoring record, surpassing the 34 points Greg Kelser scored during Michigan States 1979 title run led by Magic Johnson. Paynes overall line: 10 for 15 from the field, 4 for 5 from 3-point range, and a tournament-record 17 for 17 from the free throw line. He chipped in eight rebounds, too. "Forty-one is 41, and he was a load tonight," Delaware coach Monte Ross said. "He was probably the best big man that I have faced in 21 years of college basketball." Payne thought long and hard about leaving for the NBA after last season. He decided to stick around to see if he could lead Michigan State to another Final Four. Asked what his best night -- at least so far -- in a Spartan uniform means to him, Payne said, "Leaving a legacy." "I talked to Coach about that," he said. "The other day, I sent him a text and were just trying to win games. We are here to win the weekend and thats the main goal." Michigan States next game is Saturday against 12th-seeded Harvard, which beat Cincinnati 61-57 in an earlier East region contest. Though his entire performance was sublime, it was never better than during a 105-second stretch midway through the first half. Payne scored 12 straight points to help the Spartans (27-8) open an 18-point lead over the 13th-seeded Blue Hens (25-10). Those points came three at a time -- a trio of spot-up 3s and one ridiculous, spinning left-hander from the paint while he was being mugged by Carl Baptiste. Payne stepped to the line to make the free throw with his right handd -- the hand he shoots most of his shots with -- and by then, he had pretty much proven his point. Zach Fulton Chiefs Jersey. "He made the right decision to stay," Izzo said. "Hes a much more cerebral player, hes a much stronger player. He is starting to marry the inside-outside game. And if he does that on a consistent basis, I see him as one of the best 4 men in the whole country." With the game out of reach -- but Izzo less than satisfied with what he called an uneven effort -- Payne played almost to the end and the Spartans fed him. He dunked with 4:26 left to reach his career high and break Kelsers record. Points Nos. 40 and 41 came on free throws; the second one gave him the record for most makes in an NCAA tournament game without a miss. The previous holders are a couple of unforgettable names: Bill Bradley (1963, Princeton) and Fennis Dembo (1987, Wyoming). "When youre scoring like that and your games coming so easy to you, and you make a lot of shots, it feels like youre in a rhythm," Payne said. "It feels like you cant be stopped." For the brief moments Delaware did stop him, others stepped up. Travis Trice scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half to prevent the Colonial Athletic Association champs from turning this into a game. Branden Dawson, the Big Ten tournaments most valuable player, finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists -- modest on this day. It was that run through the Big Ten that turned Michigan State into a trendy pick in brackets across the country. President Barack Obama has the Spartans winning it all, and Las Vegas has them favoured along with Florida and Louisville. Devon Saddler had 21 points and Davon Usher added 20 for Delaware, which made its first NCAA appearance since 1999. Ross looked at it all with a sense of awe. He thought his team played pretty well. He still cant believe Michigan State is a No. 4 seed. "Im only reiterating what the whole country is saying," Ross said. "If the country is saying youre the odds-on favourite to win the national championship, youre not 16th best in the country." ' ' ' |
