|
| Hampton Sanders did not miss from three-point range in the second half. Or in the first half. Photo by Doug Sasse, d3photography.com | More photos from this game |
By Pat Coleman
D3hoops.com
FORT WAYNE – Hampton Sanders had a career night from beyond the arc and NYU overcame the ejection of starter Zay Freeney as the top-ranked Violets roared into the national title game, defeating UAA rival Washington University-St. Louis, 72-60.
NYU (29-1) will face Trinity, Conn. (29-3) on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. ET for the national title. Trinity defeated Wesleyan in the day's first semifinal, 73-69.
After Freeney was ejected from the game in the final minute of the first half for a flagrant 2 foul, Hampton Sanders started the second half for the Violets. Sanders hit two three-pointers, the second one over WashU defender Hayden Doyle, to start the second half and push NYU’s lead to 45-35. Doyle threw up his hands in frustration, but came down and hit a three-pointer to stem the tide. `
The euphoria did not last, however, as Jack Stone responded with a quick bucket for NYU.
Later in the half, WashU was 3.2 seconds away from a defensive stop when the Bears knocked a pass out of bounds with the shot clock running down. But Sanders, with the hot hand, knocked down a three-point shot off the inbounds pass to make it 59-45.
"He doesn't start the game but he's a starter," NYU coach Dave Klatzky said of Sanders after the game. "I mean, he's playing starter minutes. He's come up so huge for us.
"We had to have a conversation earlier the year. And somebody wasn't gonna start, of the six guys that could easily start and he said, coach, whatever the team needs, I'm there for. It didn't affect his minutes, but somebody had to not start this year. But you've seen what he's done all year. And this is just another example. I'm not surprised."
After that, it became the Brock Susko show, as he scored seven consecutive points to take a 60-52 lead up to 67-52 with 3:42 remaining. Doyle hit a tough shot in the paint for Wash U to make it 60-52, and the Bears had four separate opportunities to cut the lead further, but were unable to do so. Instead, on the other end, Susko hit a putback to end a scoring drought. The 6-5 grad transfer from Cal Lutheran came down and hit another bucket on a crazy up-and-under move, then punctuated it with a three-pointer from the wing to send the small NYU crowd into a frenzy going into the under-4 timeout.
"We have so many guys that can go," Susko said. "You just play in the flow of the game and those three possessions just happened to be my turn."
WashU (23-7) had started out strong in the first half, with Drake Kindsvater scoring six early points to help the Bears to a 15-14 lead. NYU scored the next 12, however, to turn the deficit into a double-digit lead.
Sanders finished with a career-high six three pointers, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from beyond the arc en route to 20 points. Susko finished with 16 points and 12 boards. Doyle led WashU with 17 points, going 6-for-19 from the floor and 3-for-12 from three-point range.
It’s NYU’s first appearance in the title game since 1994, when the Violets lost in overtime to Lebanon Valley.