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Monday, Mar. 6 9:30pm ET
Central Connecticut State going dancing | |||||
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BOX SCORE
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Connecticut is going to the NCAA tournament. No, not the defending national champions, Central Connecticut State. The Blue Devils earned their first NCAA Tournament berth since joining Division I in 1986, beating Robert Morris 63-46 for the championship of the Northeast Conference tournament on Monday night. "I've never experienced anything like this before, and the nice thing is it's being shared by people in uniform with Central Connecticut on it and people back in the state of Connecticut who have followed our program," coach Howie Dickenman said. "I think there are a lot of people back in our state happy for our team and our school." The NCAA berth comes just two years after Central Connecticut State, a school of 12,000 students located in New Britain, posted a 4-22 record in its first year in the Northeast Conference. "This is just like the cherry on top," said NEC player of the year Rick Mickens who had 17 points. "The accomplishment itself is a wonderful feeling." Center Corsley Edwards had five of his 11 in a late 11-2 run that sent the top-seeded Blue Devils (25-5) to the show just a year after they lost the title game to Mount St. Mary's. "I thought about it all summer long," Edwards said. "I thought we could win it this year after the first game of the season." The key was Central Connecticut's defense, especially the work it did on red-hot Gene Nabors. He came into the final having scored 38 in the quarterfinals and 35 in the semifinals, hitting 26 of 43 shots from the field. After missing two open shots early, Nabors never got going. The senior guard finished with five points on 2-of-15 shooting, with no points in the second half. "They were zoning me 94 feet," Nabors said. "As soon as they hit a shot or we got a rebound somebody was on me. I'd come off screens and they were in a box-and-one. It seemed two guys or three guys were guarding me. They did a great job." He wasn't the only player on third-seeded Robert Morris (18-12) to struggle. Steve Pettyjohn, the Colonials' second-leading scorer with a 12.6 average, had four points. Brandon Welsch had 13 points to lead Robert Morris, which finished 15- of-52 from the field, or 29 percent for the game against the league's top ranked defense. Despite all the problems, Robert Morris was still within 43-40 on a drive by Welsch with 8:25 to play. However, Dean Walker and Edwards each hit two free throws to ignite the 13-2 run that made it 56-42 with 3:25 left. Robert Morris, a five-time tournament winner which was back in the final for the first time since 1992, missed all five of its shots from the field and had three turnovers in the span. Central Connecticut State used an early 16-5 spurt to open a 22-9 lead. Mickens scored four points and had two steals that set up layups during the burst, in which Robert Morris missed 11 straight shots. The Colonials shot just 27 percent from the field in the half (9-for-26). Nabors was just 2-of-7 and Robert Morris trailed 29-20 at the half. | ALSO SEE Mens College Basketball Scoreboard Central Connecticut State Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO   Rick Mickens feeds Victor Payne on the fast break.avi: 557 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Rick Mickens gets the friendly bounce off the baseline jumper.avi: 426 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||