Sunday, November 25, 2001

[ COLLEGE BASKETBALL ]

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Balanced Irish on to
final game

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By Brandon Lee
blee@starbulletin.com

After receiving a dominant individual performance in its tournament opener, the Notre Dame basketball team used a balanced scoring attack last night to reach the championship game of the Hawaii Pacific Thanksgiving Classic tournament.

All five Fighting Irish starters scored in double figures as Notre Dame defeated Tennessee-Chattanooga 97-84 in the finale of the second day of action. The tournament concludes today with the Fighting Irish (4-0) taking on Monmouth for the title, while the Mocs (2-1) will play Vanderbilt for third place.

Ryan Humphrey, who rampaged for 31 points in Notre Dame's win over Hawaii Pacific on Friday, and Matt Carroll each scored 20 points to lead the Fighting Irish. Carroll was a perfect 6-for-6 from 3-point range.

Chris Thomas (19 points), Harold Swanagan (19) and David Graves (13) helped the Notre Dame starters score 91 of the team's 97 points. Swanagan and Graves also posted double-doubles with 10 rebounds apiece.

"That's who we're going to be (this year)," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "Balanced, a bunch of guys in double figures."

Leading the way for Tennessee-Chattanooga was Tim Parker with a career- and game-high 23 points to go along with seven rebounds.

The score was 40-34 at intermission as Carroll hit four of his 3-pointers for 12 points at the break.

In the second half, Humphrey took over with 16 of his 20 points. He scored five of Notre Dame's first six baskets to start the period for a 54-42 advantage at 14:36. The Fighting Irish built a 17-point lead on several occasions later in the period, with the Mocs closing within single-digits only once at 88-79 with 51.6 seconds left on a Parker 3-pointer.

Notre Dame shot 57 percent (31-for-54) overall and a sparkling 67 percent (10-for-15) from 3-point range. Tennessee-Chattanooga shot 46 percent (31-for-67) overall and 43 percent (6-for-14) from beyond the arc.

Despite the Fighting Irish's performance, Brey feels his team will have to do even better to defeat Monmouth and take home the Thanksgiving Classic title.

"The two teams that won league championships and made it to the NCAA tournament last year are playing for the title tomorrow night," Brey said last night. "We'll need to step it up even more to beat (Monmouth)."

Hawaii Pacific 81, Liberty 46: Coach Tony Sellitto and his Division II Sea Warriors (2-1) picked up their first win in four years of hosting the Thanksgiving Classic, drubbing Division I Liberty for a berth against Hampton in the consolation-bracket final.

Nash Subotic scored a game-high 31 points for HPU, 20 by halftime. He was lethal from 3-point range, hitting 7 of 11 attempts, some from well beyond NBA range.

"We beat a Division I team by 35 (points)," Sellitto said. "I can't believe it. That Nash Subotic was incredible. Some of the spots on the floor he hit from -- I didn't know he could see that far."

Jason Sarchet led the Flames (1-3) with 18 points. Liberty will meet Akron in the seventh-place game.

Monmouth 81, Vanderbilt 67: Rahsaan Johnson was the smallest guy on the court for Monmouth, but the 6-foot point guard showed he was more than capable of putting his team on his back. Johnson had game-highs of 30 points and seven assists in leading Monmouth (3-0) over Vanderbilt and into the Thanksgiving Classic's championship game.

Jason Krayl added 16 points and Russ Anderson 14 for the Hawks. The Commodores (2-2) got 17 points each from Matt Freije and Sam Howard.

Monmouth outshot Vanderbilt 48 percent (25-for-52) to 44 percent (26-for-59) for the game. The Commodores only went to the free-throw line four times and made two, while the Hawks shot 28 free throws and made 22.

Hampton 67, Akron 59: Isaac Jefferson posted game-highs of 16 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in leading Hampton over Akron 67-59. The Pirates (3-1) meet host Hawaii Pacific today, while the Zips (1-2) take on Liberty.

Devin Green and Barry Hairston both chipped in with 11 points for Hampton. Darryl Peterson had a team-high 12 points for Akron.

For the game, both teams shot 41 percent overall from the field. But Hampton outrebounded Akron 42 to 34.