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Monday, Mar. 6 7:30pm ET
Blizzard carries Wilmington to Colonial title | |||||
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BOX SCORE
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Danny Dahl had less time to think about what to do with the ball when he got it than it took the ball to ultimately do what it did. But when Dahl's desperation 3-point heave fell through with 1:52 remaining Monday night, ending a Richmond rally and giving North Carolina-Wilmington a five-point lead, it was tournament time for the Seahawks. Thanks in large part to Dahl's back-breaking 3-pointer, the Seahawks beat Richmond 57-47 in the Colonial Athletic Association championship, earning their first NCAA Tournament bid in five chances -- and 37 years playing basketball. "I got the ball off the loose rebound, saw there were only three seconds left on the shot clock and turned and threw it up," Dahl said. "It went in." The shot, only Dahl's third 3-pointer in 14 tries this season and just the ninth of his career, silenced the crowd as it languished on the rim, then eased in, ending a 5-0 Richmond flurry and 35 seconds of in-your-face Spiders defense. "We've been working on that shot for four years and saving it for a special moment," coach Jerry Wainwright said. "And luckily we had that moment today." The victory was the Seahawks' first in five CAA championship games, and gave the Seahawks the CAA's automatic berth in the field of 64 tournament teams. "Words really don't describe moments like this," Wainwright said. The Seahawks, as they usually do, won with defense, holding Richmond without a field goal for 11:23 spanning the halves and allowing 18 second-half points. Freshman Brett Blizzard led the way, capping a sensational tournament with 15 points, and Dahl had seven of his nine -- plus five rebounds -- in the second half. The Spiders (18-12) turned the ball over on their next possession, and when Barron Thelmon converted both ends of a 1-and-1 with 1:24 left, the Seahawks led 52-45 and their few hundred fans in the crowd of 8,725 became deafening. "Every time somebody made a run at us, we answered," Wainwright said. Ramond Perine added 12 points for the Seahawks (18-12), including a driving layup with 36.2 seconds left that ended any remaining suspense. Greg Stevenson led Richmond with 12 points, but had just three in the second half, when the Spiders went the first seven minutes without a field goal and shot 6-for-20. The loss was the first for Richmond in five CAA title games since 1985. "We did what we had to do to win the game," said John Beilein, whose team beat the Seahawks in the 1998 championship. "They just did it a little better." Richmond led 27-23 after Stevenson's 14-footer 4:23 before halftime, then went without a field goal until Eric Zwayer's layup with 13:00 remaining in the game. The Seahawks managed only one field goal in the last five minutes of the first half, but started 5-for-6 in the second half to open a 35-31 lead and never let Richmond get even. The Seahawks outscored the Spiders 32-18 in the half. | ALSO SEE Mens College Basketball Scoreboard North Carolina Wilmington Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO   Brett Blizzard is lights out from behind the arc.avi: 712 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Ramond Perine goes baseline for the hoop and the foul.avi: 395 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||