NTT 63
Contents
Season 63 National Invitational Tournament
When Casper and Mobile played each other in the tournament final, it was both team's 2nd appearance in the title game. Casper lost to Phoenix in season 57 while Mobile lost in Season 59 to Boston.
Game Summaries
Northwest Region
First round
The Northwest bracket held serve as all the top seeds advanced, which is a rarity these days. #1 Fargo fell behind at the half to #16 Canton, but came back strong and advanced with a 63-56 victory. #8 Montpelier blew past #9 Laramie, 81-57. #5 Nashville came back in a second half spurt to outlast Corpus Christi, 70-65. #4 Birmingham pulled away in a tight contest, knocking off #13 Denver, 82-70. #3 Clemson needed a last second shot to defeat #14 Utica, 67-66. #6 Reading stifled #11 Plainview with tough defense, winning 69-57. #7 Olympia eeked out a victory over #10 Norfolk, 70-67. #2 Del Mar blew out #15 Boca Raton, 111-78.
Second Round
- 8 Montpelier stunned the nation as they knocked off the top overall seeded Fargo, 74-72. Douglas Tillman led the Greyhounds with 17 points. #5 Nashville won a controversial game when Tash Brice was fouled with a second left in overtime as they defeated #4 Birmingham, 84-83. #6 Reading outlasted #3 Clemson, 59-58 as the Gunners had two shots to win, missing both with seconds left. While #7 Olympia stunned #2 Del Mar, in a blowout win, 84-67 as all four lower seeds won the second round.
Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)
(8) Montpelier 96 - (5) Nashville 86
Nashville held a lead for most of the game until a huge spurt with 5 minutes to go left Montpelier in control. K Vasquez hit a big 3 pointer with 2 seconds left in regulation to put the game into overtime where the Greyhounds easily took control and put the Blue Blaze away without star, Craig Hodges who had fouled out before the extra period started. Douglas Tillman was unreal for Montpelier, hitting 14-19 from the field for 30 points while Travis McCormick added 18 and 6 rebounds. Hodges scored 29 for Nashville before fouling out. The Greyhounds dominated the glass, outrebounding Nashville by a count of 44-25.
(7) Olympia 70 - (6) Reading 55
Reading just could not hang with the Dukakis for 40 minutes. They came back from a few big leads but in the second half, Thaddeus Montague and Alan Lancaster took control, scoring a combined 32 points for Olympia. Randall Highfill added 9 points, 5 assists and 12 rebounds, dominating the inside as well. The Dukakis contested nearly every Reading shot throughout the game, causing the Jammers to go 0-8 from the outside and 26-68 from the field.
Regional Final (Elite Eight)
(7) Olympia 72 - (8) Montpelier 62
It was a close game through the first half as both teams went back and forth, but it was all Olympia in the second half as they began to slowly pull away. 6'9 senior, Alan Lancaster, for the Dukakis was simply sensational, shooting 9-13 from the field, scoring 23 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. He went 2-3 from behind the arc and 3-4 from the line. Peter Koenig, Olympia's senior point guard added 12 and 3 assists while senior forward, Gary Fay scored 10, grabbed 4 rebounds and had 3 steals. A big key however, for Olympia was the play of 7'2 Randall Highfill. The sophomore center ripped down 11 rebounds, as the Dukakis dominated inside the paint. Montpelier, Travis McCormick shot 11-17 from the field for 24 points and grabbed 9 boards himself, but it seemed like he was the only player to show up as the Dukakis clamped down on everyone else. Coach 4dexrun just couldn't get anyone else going, even Douglas Tillman was held to just 9 points as Thaddeus Montague shadowed him throughout the game.