Ellison, Cougs Refuse To Lose Super Soph Scores 24 Of 30 Points In Last 9 Minutes Of Comeback

It was The Great Comeback revisited.

Washington State, which came from 20 points down in the second half to beat California two years ago at storied Harmon Arena, staged an even more remarkable rally Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars, led by the dazzling outside shooting and floor leadership of point guard Donminic Ellison, overcame a 16-point deficit in the final 9 minutes and 45 seconds to stun the Golden Bears 92-89.

Ellison, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, scored 30 points - including 27 in the second half and 24 in the final 9 minutes - to put WSU into a second consecutive postseason tournament for the first time in the school’s history.

The Cougars, who finished the regular season at 10-8 in the Pacific-10 Conference and 16-11 overall, will probably land in the National Invitation Tournament.

But Cougars coach Kevin Eastman has said all year he felt his team would have to be considered by the NCAA if it could manage 10 wins in the Pac-10.

“All we can do from this point on is give our athletic director (Rick Dickson) a call and see where he thinks things stand,” Eastman said.

Cal, which finished a disappointing 5-13, 13-14 overall, had hoped to sneak into the NIT but will be going nowhere now.

The NCAA’s selection committee will go public with its 64-team field at 3 p.m. today. And if any of its sequestered members were able to glimpse WSU’s comeback against Cal, they had to be impressed.

The Cougars, trailing 74-58 at one point, made their last eight shots from the field and did not miss in the last 7 minutes of the game.

Ellison was perfect on eight basket tries - including six from 3-point range - and four free throws during that stretch. And, according to Eastman, was even more impressive in the team huddle during timeouts.

“You can talk about the 3s,” Eastman said, “but I thought where Donminic was the most effective was in the huddle. On his face, it was simply, ‘We’re not going to lose!’ And, really, for about the first 2 of those last 8 minutes, he was the only one who still had that look.

“Then we got lucky, got a couple of breaks and some buckets and before you knew it, everybody started believing.”

“I needed that,” Ellison said after tying his career scoring high and handing out five assists. “It was like a feeling of relief because I was really frustrated with myself and some of the things we were doing in the first half.

“After halftime, a couple of people changed their attitudes, along with me, and we came together as a team. I hit two (3-pointers) in a row and then I felt one more. Then, if you hit three, you feel like you can’t miss.”

Ellison’s late-game heroics overshadowed a splendid performance by Cal’s Tony Gonzalez, who finished with a career-high 29 points and frustrated WSU’s all-Pac-10 forward, Mark Hendrickson.

Gonzalez, a 6-foot-6 freshman making only his third start, sank 9 of 12 shots from the field and 11 of 12 free throws to help Cal build its huge lead midway through the second half.

Gonzalez, who played tight end on Cal’s football team last fall, used his strength to push Hendrickson around inside and his quickness and athletic ability to harass him on the perimeter.

Hendrickson finished with 16 points and nine boards - his averages for the season - but managed only two field-goal attempts in the second half.

Yet, it was Gonzalez who missed Cal’s most crucial shot down the stretch when his 8-foot baseline jumper over Tavares Mack rolled off the front of the rim with 6 seconds left in the game.

The Bears were down 90-89 at the time. After Gonzalez’ shot rolled off, the ball was tipped by a teammate before Ellison ran it down in the corner, was fouled and made a pair of free throws to provide WSU’s final margin.

The outcome left the two head coaches in contrasting moods.

“Obviously, it was not the way I would have wanted to end the season,” said Cal’s Todd Bozeman. “I learned a lot this season. I will reevaluate things, but I will not beat myself up over this season.

“I really feel bad for the seniors (Monte Buckley and Ryan Jamison), but, at the same time, we have a fine freshman group that will be coming back. There is a lot to look forward to, and we can take a lot of things from this year and grow.”

Eastman, who was fighting a severe cold and didn’t attend his team’s shoot-around Saturday morning, was a little more upbeat.

“Obviously, I feel very good about our basketball team,” Eastman said. “But I feel bad for Cal, because it was a game they could have obviously had.”

Eastman said he thought the game turned following a Cougars media timeout with 12:50 remaining. That was when he put his team in a fullcourt press that fueled a 10-3 run and helped make things interesting.

During one 5-minute stretch, WSU forced four turnovers and scored after each one - twice on Ellison 3-pointers. More importantly, it seemed to take Cal out of its offensive rhythm.

“We said all year that our press was going to win one or two games for us that we didn’t think we could win,” Eastman explained.

Washington St. 92, California 89 WASHINGTON STATE (16-11)

Fontaine 7-14 0-0 15, Hendrickson 6-8 4-5 16, Mack 1-2 3-4 5, Ellison 9-12 4-4 30, Antrum 3-7 1-1 7, Daniel 4-4 2-2 10, Griffin 3-7 0-0 7, Vik 1-1 0-0 2, Corkrum 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-55 14-16 92.

CALIFORNIA (13-14)

Fowlkes 6-13 4-8 17, Gonzalez 9-12 11-12 29, Jamison 1-3 0-0 2, Buckley 6-10 2-2 18, Gardner 5-10 1-3 12, Marks 0-1 2-2 2, Stewart 0-1 1-2 1, Duck 1-6 0-0 3, Roberts 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 30-58 21-29 89.

Halftime-California 51, Washington St. 46. 3-Point goals- Washington St. 10-17 (Ellison 8-9, Griffin 1-3, Fontaine 1-2, Antrum 0-3), California 8-18 (Buckley 4-7, Fowlkes 1-3, Gardner 1-3, Duck 1-4, Roberts 1-1). Fouled out-Jamison. Rebounds-Washington St. 28 (Hendrickson 9), California 27 (Gonzalez 9). Assists- Washington St. 25 (Fontaine 7), California 18 (Gardner 11). Total fouls-Washington St. 21, California 17. A-6,578.