No. 6 Fayetteville State Broncos upset defending champions
February 28, 2008
Entering with the two regular season losses against the Elizabeth City State Vikings, the no. 6 seed Fayetteville State Broncos competed hard in the third match-up and come out victorious 62-67. The Broncos will advance to the semi-final round on Friday, February 29, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, NC.
In both divisional duels in the regular season, Elizabeth City's Anthony Hillard led in scoring and rebounding, with a combined 49 points and 31 rebounds. The junior guard was also named the 2008 CIAA Player of the Year.
In the first half, the Broncos senior duo Jamel Austin and Phillippe Harris dominated on the floor securing the lead for their team. Austin broke the tie of 10 at 12:41 with a three-pointer, added by a paint completion by Andy Gebru for the Broncos offense. Down six with 8:46 left in the half, Vikings guard Matt Nowlin banked a three-pointer, along with a mid-range jumper by Hillard to come within one point of another game tie.
With 2:56 remaining, Harris hit a long- range jumper advancing the Broncos to a seven-point lead, 19-26.
Harris finished the half as the Broncos' leading scorer; he shot 5-10, 1-4 from the three-point line and had 11 total points. The Broncos shot 35.1 percent from the field and had no chance of reaching the free throw line. At the line, the Vikings shot a poor 22.2 percent, only shooting 2-for-9. The Broncos concluded into halftime up five, 23-28. Gebru added 6 total points, 5 rebounds and steals.
In zone, the Vikings shut down any Bronco post efficiency, however, it set off the perimeter fire by Harris. He hit three consecutive three-pointers. With the game tied at 45 all, and 9:25 remaining, the Vikings took the lead and continued on a 6-0 run with two offensive completions by Demond Hickman and two free throws by Hillard.
Tied at 53 at the two-minute mark, Austin pulled a long three-pointer for the lead, followed by a drive and a foul by Harris; he made both free throws for the five- point Bronco lead. A Nowlin three-pointer brought the Vikings within a four-point gap of a tie, but the Broncos pulled away with foul shot completions in the final 30 seconds of the Game 3. With a final shot by Darshawn Johnson, the third time was the charm in facing the Vikings and took the win from the home team by 5, 62-67.
"They played their hearts out," said Fayetteville State head coach Samuel Hanger. "If we continue to play with passion and poise, we can go up against anybody."
Harris finished the game 10-21, 4-8 from the three-point line and 70 percent from the free throw line with 31 total points and six rebounds. Harris was named the Game 3 Most Valuable Player.
