NTT 63

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

8th seeded 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.

Southwest Region

First Round

Top Seeded Penasacola fought off a bigtime rally by #16 Beaumont and held on to advance with a 101-92 victory. #9 Syracuse got 23 points from their bench, outlasting #8 St. Paul, 82-78. #5 Durham barely got past #12 Colorado Springs, 82-81. #13 Cincinatti pulled off a stunner, holding #4 Lansing to just 39 points in their 63-39 win. #3 Jersey City jumped out on #14 Ann Arbor, and held them off for a 77-69 victory. #11 Columbus pulled off a minor upset over #6 Fresno, winning 61-50. #7 Salt Lake City escaped with a win over #10 Baltimore, 75-70 and #2 Casper outlasted #15 Yuma, 91-78 in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.

Second Round

Top Seeded Pensacola easily got past #9 Syracuse, 82-63. #5 Durham controlled the tempo and dominated the glass, knocking off #13 Cincinnati, 79-67. #11 Columbus dominated the second half as they upset the #3 seed, Jersey City, 89-82. #2 Casper ended #7 Salt Lake's repeat hopes, with a 90-81 victory.

Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)

(1) Pensacola 77 - (5) Durham 75

Durham blew a 5 point lead with just minutes left as the Gulf Bandits closed the game out with a 7-0 run. While Andrew Ludwig of the Devils played a big game defensively, holding Rod Crick of Pensacola to just 8 points, it was his turnover with 9 seconds left that gave Pensacola the final shot with Jarrod Davis hit, moving the top seed on. Davis ended the night with 29 points while his backup, Ray Jacobson added 13. Billy Lee scored 17 points for Durham before fouling out early in the second half.

(2) Casper 71 - (11) Columbus 47

Casper let Columbus hang around for a bit, then they turned their defense up a notch, and starting crashing the boards while pulling away for good. Superstar, Quincy Day was awesome again, scoring 21 points while Christopher Bickford shot 6-9 for 14 points. Stephen Duncan led Columbus with 13 and 5 rebounds, but the Scarlet & Gray could never get anything going against the much more athletic Hania.

Regional Final (Elite Eight)

(2) Casper 102 - (1) Pensacola 89

Quincy Day folks. Just watching him at work gives me the chills. Casper's 6'5 senior guard has been super, scintillating and sensational all season long and in the round of 8 it wasn't any different as Day scored 37 points on 12-18 shooting, including going 10-13 from the line. The ref's did play a big part in this one, nobody can deny that as the Hania went to the line 42 times, converting 31 while Pensacola went just 10-12.

Both teams shot well overall however, but Casper surprisingly, won the battle of the boards as Sean Connery had a 16 point, 8 rebounding effort, beating up on both Howard Thomas, who fouled out in just 24 minutes of play and Ricky Carter, Pensacola's freshmen backup center. Alex Gittens scored 11 points and dished out 7 assists for the Hania while Christopher Bickford scored 15 on 5-7 shooting.

Jarrod Davis and Rod Crick combined for 45 points for Pensacola in the loss, but losing both Walter Helton and Howard Thomas to foul problems really hurt. Casper already had more overall depth, and the Gulf Bandits just couldn't keep up with fouls being called on nearly every play it seemed. The Hania were definitely the more overall athletic team, so it was tough for Pensacola to keep up.

Northeast Region

First Round

Top Seeded Detroit destroyed #16 Tuscaloosa, 91-66. #9 Scranton had a huge second half to comeback and knock off #8 Cambridge, 86-76. #12 Bethlehem outrebounded the much bigger 5th seeded Huntington Beach, winning 89-79. #4 Knoxville remained undefeated, taking out #13 Shreveport, 84-76. #14 Peoria upset #3 Panama City in overtime, 85-76. #6 Dayton pulled away in the second half, taking out #11 Orlando, 75-64. #7 Chicago held on against #10 Blacksburg, who came back with a late 18-2 run, 78-76 and #2 Phoenix blew out #15 Asheville, 86-62.

Second Round

Top Seeded Detroit won by double digits again, knocking off #9 Scranton, 94-80. #12 Bethlehem won a tough overtime game against #4 Knoxville, 95-94. #6 Dayton also won in overtime against #14 Peoria, 91-87. #2 Phoenix survived against #7 Chicago, 85-83 as the Art Institue missed two free throws in the final seconds.

Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)

(1) Detroit 100 - (12) Bethlehem 61

Spotting the Audacity a 18-4 lead is never good and the night didn't get any better for the Wisemen from there as Detroit was relentless once again. Wilbert Farber led Detroit with 23 points and 6 rebounds while Casey Morgan and Cole Alley each added 17. Bob Kelso ripped down 14 rebounds on the inside for the Audacity as well. Only 2 players could score in double figures for Bethlehem as Oscar Ritter and Ryan Allen each scored just 10.

(6) Dayton 81 - (2) Phoenix 74

With nearly a 20 point lead going into the half, Dayton had to be feeling pretty good, holding Phoenix to just 29 points while putting up 48 of their own. However that lead quickly erased in the second half and the Kingslayers found themselves up by just one point with 10:00 left on the clock. Kudos to coach Byron though, as he took a timeout, regrouped his players and they took control once again, knocking off the Eunuchs and advancing to the Elite Eight for the second straight year. Tiger Woods led Dayton with 22 points and 9 rebounds while Lyle Dunn added 18. Phoenix had 5 players score in double figures led by Doyle Mcgonagle's 18 point effort.

Regional Final (Elite Eight)

(1) Detroit 100 - (6) Dayton 80

Dayton gave everything it had, keeping up with the Audacity for most of the game until Detroit finally pulled away late in the second half. They shot 10-21 from downtown, however Detroit hit 9-12 of their own. In the end it was the Audacity's suffocating defense and high powered offense who once again prevailed. Wilbert Farber shot 8-12 from the field, scoring 24 points and grabbing 8 rebounds while Casey Morgan, Cole Alley and backup guard, Peter Shanklin all added 17 each for Detroit. Dayton forced Morgan into 5 turnovers, but with the way the Audacity was shooting, they could afford it as as a team, they went 37-62 from the field and 17-18 from the charity stripe. Dayton got a great game out of Lyle Dunn, who shot 9-14 from the field for 24 points while hitting 4 trifecta's. Kenny Reed chipped in 13 of his own but Tiger Woods was shut down by Detroit's Cole Alley, scoring only 8 points on a 3-13 night. The Kingslayers played a real solid game overall, but Detroit was just to big and physical for them.

Southeast Region

First Round

Top Seeded Bangor blew out #16 Kansas City, 90-45. #8 Hot Springs fell to #9 Sacramento, 80-78 as Kenneth Gallagher missed a shot with 7 seconds left. #5 Mobile barely outlasted #12 San Jose, 97-94. #13 Santa Ana easily got past #4 Pierre, 71-61. #3 Naples jumped out early and knocked off #14 Little Rock, 81-69. #6 Lake Tahoe came back in the seccond half, downing #11 Tucson, 75-64. #7 Aberdeen looked sharp in their blowout win over #10 Alexandria, 99-75. #2 Jacksonville were to much for #15 Rochester, winning 67-57.

Second Round

The top seed fell in the second round as #9 Sacramento easily got past #1 Bangor, 86-73. #5 Mobile pushed the pedal to the medal, blowing out #13 Santa Ana, 85-70. #6 Lake Tahoe fought off a second half comeback by #3 Naples, holding on with a 81-71 victory and the other top seed fell as #2 Jacksonville missed a shot to win, bowing out to #10 Aberdeen, 68-67.

Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)

(5) Mobile 81 - (9) Sacramento 61

The game was close for most of the first half until the Control KAOS went on a spurt, which continued into the second half as they put the game out of reach. Four players scored in double figures for Mobile, led by Clyde Fosters 22 points. Floyd Rogers and reserve forward John Franco each had 12 as well. The State Hornets got 26 points out of William Douglas but he didn't get much help as only Devin Seabolt (14 points) scored over 8 points.

(6) Lake Tahoe 77 - (7) Aberdeen 58

The White Russians have been playing fantastic basketball the past few weeks and it continued tonight as they easily got past an always well coached Aberdeen squad. Jean Jackman led Lake Tahoe with 19 points and 5 assists while John Wagner grabbed 12 rebounds to go along with 7 points. The Redmen struggled to get anything going, especially from outside the arc where they went 6-19. Gary Abbas led Aberdeen with 15 points but shot 1-7 from downtown.

Regional Final (Elite Eight)

(5) Mobile 71 - (6) Lake Tahoe 66

Mobile led most of the game, until a big run by the White Russians took a slight lead. Who was the hero in this one? Backup forward, John Franco of the Control KAOS. The 6'7 senior scored all 8 of his points in a row, late in the second half to give Mobile the lead for good. It was an amazing spurt as Franco shot 3-4 and hit both of his free throw attempts in a 4 minute span.

Mobile's leading scorer was Victor Roberts, who scored 16 points while 'Sweet' Floyd Rogers scored 15 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. Edward Jefferson grabbed 9 rebounds for the Control KAOS while backup James Battle added 5. Mobile as a team went 24-29 from the line while Lake Tahoe shot just 9, converting 8 of them.

Lake Tahoe's John Wagner went 7-10 from the field, scoring 19 points, grabbing 8 rebounds and blocking 5 shots before fouling out. Ossian O'Callaghan had a miserable night shooting, going 2-9 from the field but did dish out 6 assists to 0 turnovers. Jean Jackman was also shut down, shooting just 3-10 for 7 points and had 5 steals.

FINAL FOUR

(2) Casper 85 - (7) Olympia 79

Quincy Day had 21 of his 26 points in the first half when Olympia was giving everything it had, then in the second half the rest of the team picked up the slack and carried Casper into the National Title Tournament finals.

Thaddeus Montague was exhausted from sticking with the more athletic Day, but the 6'5 sophomore for the Dukakis held Day below his average, which was the gameplan. What wasn't part of the plan was for Alex Gittens, Christopher Bickford and Jose Bennett to all have solid outings. Bickford scored 14 points, Gittens added 12 and backup forward, Bennett shot 5-7 for 10 points in just 11 minutes. Sean Connery shot just 1-7 from the field, but his 11 rebounds were key for Casper.

Olympia's star, Alan Lancaster was held to just 15 points and 5 rebounds as the Hania's, Steven Mcnamee, did a good job facing him up most of the way. 5 players did score in double digits for the Dukakis, including Gary Fay's 16 point, 8 rebound performance. But in the end, Casper played better defense and had just a bit more offense than Olympia.

(5) Mobile 87 - (1) Detroit 75

Mobile came out on fire, silencing the Detroit fans as they jumped out to a 21-9 lead. Mobile continued to apply pressure, make big shots and went into the half up by 20 as Farber was held to just 6 points in the first half. In the second half, Detroit tried to get back into the game, but any run was thwarted by big baskets from the Control KAOS.

It's impossible to give the credit Clyde Foster is due for his 17 point, 11 rebound performance for Mobile. The 6'8 junior not only was amazing on the offensive end of the floor, he was in Wilbert Farber's face all night, slowing the countries top player down, holding him to just 14 points and 3 rebounds. 'Sweet' Floyd Rogers shot 8-19 from the field, scoring 22 points and ripped down 13 rebounds in another big time performance. Victor Roberts, the Control KAOS's 6'7 sophomore added 16 while Donnell Mullins added 11 and 5 assists.

Cole Alley scored 13 points for the Audacity while Peter Shanklin and Oscar Peterson combined for 23 points off the bench. While Bob Kelso did have 14 rebounds, he shot a dismal 2-7 from the field for just 4 points. It was an amazing defensive clinic by Mobile, and a very well coached team. Mobile had a chip on their shoulder, after hearing so much about Detroit, but in the game tonight, they were the much better team.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

(2) Casper 89 - (5) Mobile 79

Quincy Day told his team before the game that he had dreamt he would score 40 points and lead the Casper program to their first NTT title. He was one point off.

"I was feeling it, I wanted to end my senior season with a title," Day said. He did that, all right Day scored 24 of of his 39 points in the second half as the Hania took control and put away the feisty Control KAOS. The 6'5 senior went 17-24 from the field and hit two of his 4 attempts from behind the arc.

Day also became Conference 25's all-time leading scorer, ending an amazing career.

"That was probably the best performance I've seen him have as a Hania," Casper coach Warak said of Day. "He was simply amazing and the entire team was having fun watching him."

Steven Mcnamee added 12 points and 8 rebounds while Alex Gittens struggled going just 2-11 from the field, but added 5 key steals. Casper shot 55% from the field and won the battle of the boards 31-26.

Mobile held a one point lead at the half led by John Franco's 12 points. Franco ended the night with 23 on 10-14 shooting while Floyd Rogers went 7-13 for 15 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.

After the Control KAOS pulled to 61-60 on Victor Roberts free throw with 10:39 left in the second half, Casper responded with a 11-2 burst to build a 72-62 lead. From there it was pretty much over as Mobile just couldn't slow down the athletic Hania.