The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 4, 1989 - Page 9
MICHIGA
80
SETO
HALL
79
THE
VICTORS!"
National Championship,
it was just another night
Continued from Page 1
It didn't matter that Michigan was leading by five,
Rumeal Robinson had scored 14 points and Rice was
on a pace to set his record. Just as any other game, a
second half of basketball remained.
The Wolverines started the second half with a rush
but it didn't matter. The Hall did not intend to be
something walked through by hungry Wolverines, and
the door swung shut at least temporarly.
Rice scored his eighteenth point with a three. While
the fans yelled and sceamed the athletic director only
shook his head.
Two minutes later Robinson scored a 9.8 with an
electrifying slam. Suddenly the athletic director did
more than shake his head - he stook up and cheered..
What everyone missed was Rice breaking the
tournement scoring record. It happened innocently
enough - Rice launched a three point bomb to put
Michigan up five.
But the only things fans recognized was that Seton
Hall had come back to take a lead with less than two
minutes to play.
With Michigan down back came Rice. You knew
he had to set the Big Ten scoring record and he did
with a trademark three. The athletic director was up for
good with a grin running from ear to ear.
Security officers armed with walkie talkies moved
into position to keep fans from rushing the court.
Sean Higgins sunk two free throws but the Hall
came back with a three. The post game celebration
waited.
A Michigan time-out gave ample opportunity for
everyone's blood pressure to rise. The band played the
fi'ght song to get the Michigan fans going as if the
Michigan faithful really needed the extra inspiration.
The clock was in single digits - a familiar sight to
these Wolverines.
But this time was different. Rice's shot clanked off
the rim and for the first time since 1963 the NCAA
championship had gone into overtime.
Michigan fell behind quickly and it looked like the
Pirates would sail away. But the Wolverines had not
lost an overtime game all year and last night was not
going to buck the trend.
Michgan down by one. Three seconds on the clock.
Robinson at the line. Memories of Wisconsin passed
through everyone's mind. But history did not repeat
itself. Robinson sank both shots.
The Pirates had one more shot to win the ball game
but it was not to be. The true blue had come out on
top.
Sean Higgins even gave the floor one big kiss.
Rice and Robinson embraced. There were tears in some
of the players eyes. But with regards to the new coach,
nothing had changed.
Bo Shembechler would still not say whether he had
reached a decision. Michigan had come out a winner.
But then again they had done that 29 times this year.
For the first time ever a national championship
basketball trophy was coming home to Ann Arbor.
But last night it was buisness as usual.
Rumeal clutches and
puts down Seton Hall
Continued from Page 1
After four lead changes in the extra period, the
Pirates took a three point lead with 2:40 on a Morton
three pointer. But the Hall failed to capitalize and
increase their lead as Morton and Greene failed on the
front end of a one and one with the lead still at three.
Terry Mills scored on an inside jumper with 55
seconds remaining to set up the Morton miss with 10
seconds and subsequent-clinching free throws.
Seton Hall called time out to ice Robinson, but to
no avail. The six-foot junior point guard, a 72.7
percent foul shooter in the final four minutes of
games, decided that last night was going to be "Meal
time" for the Wolverines, who ended their season at
30-7.
Michigan, who set a record for victories with 29, is
28-2 in games in which they score 80 or more points.
The Wolverines jumped all over the Pirates at the
start of the second half, taking 44-35 lead at the 17:43
mark before the Hall, 31-7, called time out.
Mills started it all with a swat of a Daryll Walker
layup just 30 seconds into the half. He followed that
block with an assist to Vaught in a two on one
situation.
The first half was notably different from the
Illinois-Michigan first half in which both teams were
able to use their transition offenses. The Pirates
A pep rally will be held today at 5:30
p.m. in Crisler Arena. No admission
fee is required.
bottled up the Wolverines' fast break attack and caused
seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
Michigan led 37-32 at the intermission, led by 14
points from Robinson and 13 from Rice. Rice's points
included a quarter court length pass from Robinson
that he turned into an acrobatic slam dunk to give the
Wolverines a 12-8 lead at the 14:39 mark.
The Wolverines extended their lead to six, 20-14,
with 9:28 remaining in the half before a 12 point run
from the Hall over the next two and one half minutes
gave the Pirates a 26-20 edge. The run was led by
Morton, who scored six points during that stretch.
"First of all Michigan is a great basketball team,"
Seton Hall coach P.J. Carlesimo said. "They played a
little bit better than we did and deserved to be the
national champion. When it came down to it, they
made a couple of big shots and they made some
enormous free throws and we missed a couple. They
shot 87 percent from the free throw line and I think
when two good teams play, a lot of times that can be
the difference."
Joining on Rice on the all-tournament team were
Robinson, who finished the night with 21 points and
11 assists, Greene and Morton from Seton Hall and
Duke's Danny Ferry, who tallied 29 points in
Saturday's semifinal game.
'They played a little bit better
than we did and deserved to be
the national champion.'
- Seton Hall coach P.J.
Carlesimo
A'ssecdo~ed Press
I knew it would come down to
the wire. I didn't want to leave a
loser. I told the guys when I
came here I wanted to leave with
an NCAA championship.'
- Michigan Forward Glen Rice
Spinning some stupendous
stories from Seattle
's
Show
BY ADAM SCHRAGER AND
STEVE BLONDER
Happy B-day Bo: Saturday was
athletic director Bo Schembechler's
60th birthday. Asked what he wanted
as a gift, Schembechler replied, "a
national championship. Wouldn't it
be exciting if we win this thing?"
Michigan has not won a national
championship since the men's
gymnastics team accomplished the
feat in 1972,
See-Saw: Saturday's game had 33
lead changes and 7 ties.
P.J. has a point: Carlisimo on
Steve Fisher coaching for Bill Fried-
er: "I understand how overrated a
head coach's role is. If I couldn't
coach tomorrow, our (assistants)
could do the job just as well. I'm
not belittling what Steve's done at
all. To handle the pressure and do the
things that he's done, that's been the
hard part."
Sweet Dreams I: Sean Higgins
on trying to get some rest after
Saturday's game: "I tried to get some
sleep, but someone kept calling my
Australian native Andrew Gaze on
why he chose Seton Hall: "It was
just that Seton Hall was the only
one that expressed any interest in
me."
Loy was geeked up: Loy vaught
on playing for national crown: For
me I grew up thinking about playing
in this game. You watch the game
every year and you dream about
being in it. At the same time, I
don't want to end it on a sour note. I
feel as long as we've come this far, I
want to go out a champion."
What a
r.flL JU tia"ly
Michigan fans at Pizzeria Uno celebrate a successful play by the Wolverines during their tournament drive.
Fans go crazy after victory
bread," as students poured out of the bar and onto
Big Cheeses:
Schembechler, Big
Ten commissioner
Wayne Duke and
Michigan's presi-
dent James Duder-
stadt all visited the
lockerroom after
Seattle's games.
Deja Vu: Seton
Hall coach P.J.
Carlesimo's father
(Pete) served as di-
rector of the NIT in
1984, the year
Michigan won that
tournament's title.
'M' in the
finals: Last night's
MICHIGAN (80)
Rice 12-25 2-2 31. Mills 4-8 0-0 8. Vaught 4-8 0-0 8.
0-0 0. Robinson 6-13 9-10 21. Higgins 3-10 3-4 10. Hughes 1-1
0-0 2. Calip 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-67 14-16 80.
SETON HALL (79)
Gaze 1-5 2-2 5. Walker 5-9 3-4 13. Ramos 4-9 1-1 9. Greene 5-
13 1-3 13. Morton 11-26 9-10 35. Cooper 0-0 0-0 0. Avent1-2 0-
0 2. Volcy 0-0 0-2 0. Wigington 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-65 16-22 79.
Halftime - Michigan 37, Seton Hall 32. End of Regulation
- Michigan 71, Seton Hall 71. 3-point goals - Michigan 6-
16 (Rice 5-12, Higgins 1-4), Seton Hall 7-23 (Morton 4-12,
Greene 2-5, Gaze 1-5, Walker 0-1). Fouled out - None. Re-
bounds - Michigan 45 (Rice 11), Seton Hall 36 (Walker 11).
Assists - Michigan 19 (Robinson 11), Seton Hall 14 (Greene
5). Total fouls - Michigan 20, Seton Hall 17. Attendance -
39,187
Griffin 0-0
feeling!: Mills:
"The way coach
Fisher jumped off
the bench reminded
us of that Toyota
commercial."
F Fisher still
hopeful: "Bo told
the team that he is
committed to find-
ing the best coach
in America for the
Michigan basket-
ball team. So I'm
hopeful that I'll be
there, but I have no
control over that."
BY LORY KNAPP
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY
The clock showed zero and the place erupted like
Nothing anybody had ever seen before.
Thanks to guard Rumeal Robinson's two free
throws in overtime, the fans at Dooley's were treated
to a unprecendented University of Michigan
celebration.
There were flying pitchers of beer, a decorative
canoe being lifted from its hooks accompanied by the
-sound of breaking glass everywhere as hundreds of
Maynard street.
As soon as the game finished, suddenly Maynard
Street was filled with what looked like the Boston
Marathon. Led by a student carrying a maize flag with
that big blue 'M', hundreds of students took off on
their marathon down Williams Street, destined for who
knows where.
But the post-game celebrations were far from the
whole story. The scene inside Dooley's during the
game was just as crazy.
Filled to capacity and then some, Dooley's was the
game was Michigan's third-ever ap-
pearance in the NCAA finals. In
1965, Michigan lost to UCLA (91-
80) and in 1976 the Wolverines lost
room. I played back the shot in my
head last night, and it felt good to
hit the winning bucket. My face is
still a little sore from coach Fisher
Long road
back: Seton Hall
guard Gerald Greene on being 18
points down against Duke on
Saturday: "I thought it was all over
at one point. It was like a disaster