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Tournament game, the Clayton State Lakers needed overtime to advance
on Saturday, knocking off Catawba 72-69 in the quarterfinals of the
2007 NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional at Augusta State.Clayton State, ranked 25th in the latest Division II Top 25 poll, improves to 24-7 overall. The Lakers will square off against defending NCAA Division II runner-up and 2005 NCAA Division II National Champion Virginia Union in the semifinals on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Augusta State’s Christenberry Fieldhouse. It will be a battle between two of the more distinguished head coaches in Division II - Clayton State's Gordon Gibbons and Virginia Union's Dave Robbins. “One thing about this group of guys is that they are unbelievably competitive and they’re going to fight to the end,” said Gibbons, who is in his seventh NCAA Division II National Tournament as a head coach. “And the one thing that they have that is constant is their defense and they were a little tired and gave up a couple of easy ones, but they got the big stop in the end.” The Lakers almost didn’t make. Ahead 62-50 with 5:13 remaining in the game, Clayton State did not get a shot off from the field in the final five minutes of regulation. Catawba, meanwhile, got consecutive baskets from Chris Woolridge and jump shots from Brian Graves and Ahmad Murphy to cut the Clayton State lead to four points, 62-58 with 1:40 remaining. South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year Antonio Houston then drained a big 3-point basket at the 1:10 mark for the Indians, trimming the Laker lead to 63-61. Clayton State’s Michael Sloan missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the ball back to Catawba. A Laker foul put Catawba’s Norman Monroe at the free throw line, and he nailed two free throws to tie it 63-63 with 29 seconds remaining. Clayton State held for the last shot, but Rod Venner’s lay-up was off the mark as time expired, forcing overtime. Twice in the overtime period, Catawba took the lead, only to see Sloan come up big with two huge 3-point baskets. His first 3-point basket gave the Lakers a 66-65 lead with 2:15 remaining. Sloan then put the Lakers ahead for good with the other 3-point basket at the 1:19 mark, making the score 69-67 in favor of Clayton State. The two teams traded a free throw in the final 25 seconds before Venner was fouled with five seconds remaining. The senior calmly drained both free throws, and Graves’ last-second 3-point attempt was off as time expired. Sloan and Jerome Boyd both paced Clayton State with 15 points. Boyd scored nine points in the first half as Clayton State finished on an 11-3 run and a 32-26 lead at the break. Todd McLaurin scored 11 points despite missing much of the second half with a minor injury, and Brandon Kelley added 10 points. Clayton State was strong on the glass as John Beugnot grabbed 14 rebounds and Aristide Sawadogo had 12 rebounds. For Catawba (20-11), Graves scored 19 points with seven assists, while Antonio Houston scored 15 points and Woolridge scored 14 points. |
