It Takes Time, But Gu Gains A Shot At Title

Game-management personnel take note:

The nets are hardly worn at all.

But the refs’ whistles must be replaced immediately.

Those shot-clocks ticked almost 35 times every possession, too, so you better double-check those bulbs.

And finally, while you’re at it, make sure never to invite Gonzaga University and South Alabama to the same party again.

Forty-seven personal fouls and an excruciatingly deliberate offensive scheme by South Alabama gave Gonzaga’s 60-43 win Friday night all the tempo of a mournful dirge.

But it put the Bulldogs men (6-2) in the 8 p.m. title game of the U.S. West Cellular Air Time Tournament against Washington on the Huskies’ home floor tonight.

For Washington, Mark Sanford scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half as the Huskies (5-2) jumped out to an early lead, then beat Lehigh (2-6) 82-66. Bryant Boston led UW with 15 points.

“We knew their style was going to make this a bizarre game,” GU coach Dan Fitzgerald said of the Jaguars. “But you talk about defense, ours was pretty good. If you beat somebody by 17 who only gets 43, that’s a pretty good differential.”

What was the Jaguars’ style? Don Monson, former coach and father of GU assistant Dan Monson, described the value of this game perfectly. “Sometimes it’s good to play a game when you’ve got a guy with an elbow in your face and a finger in your eye,” Monson said.

That captured the spirit of this one, played in front of a sparse crowd at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

Almost every elbow and misdirected finger was rewarded with a free throw. Cindy Crawford strutting past a construction site would cause fewer whistles.

This was a homely endeavor from the start as the undersized Jaguars were helpless under the basket and remarkably incompetent from the perimeter.

By the time the game finished, they had missed more shots (41) than Gonzaga had attempted (36). And in the first 37 minutes of play, they netted only 10 baskets.

They didn’t score, other than by Gonzaga goaltending, until 7-1/2 minutes had been played.

And their leading scorers, Mark Neal and Russell McCutcheon, combined for six points on 3-for-21 shooting.

“Neal was a non-factor in the game,” said Jaguars’ coach Bill Musselman, who has worked at high schools, colleges, NBA, CBA, WBA and ABA. “He got in quick foul trouble and that really hurt us.”

That was hardly the only problem, though, as GU went up 31-19 at the half as the Bulldogs shot 71 percent from the field to USA’s 23.

“The only real concern I had was the way we turned it over in the first half,” Fitzgerald said of his team’s 14 miscues in the first 20 minutes.

GU’s big men, Paul Rogers (16 points, four assists, three blocks) and Scott Snider (11 points, 10 rebounds), again dominated, while senior forward Jon Kinloch scored 11 - seven straight in an important stretch in the second half.

“We knew it was going to be a strange game,” Rogers said. “We knew their game plan was to slow it down to a walking pace and run the clock down, but we did a good job of abusing their weaknesses.”

The only real excitement of the game, actually, came shortly before intermission.

After one of the Bulldogs signaled for timeout, Fitzgerald informed the referee he wanted a 20-second timeout and not a full 1-minute break.

The referee objected that Fitzgerald was tardy in informing him he wanted a 20-second break, ruling a full TO would be deducted from the Bulldogs.

Fitzgerald was less than pleased.

And knowing it is harmful to allow these things to fester internally, Fitzgerald voiced his concerns to the official.

Musselman then suggested to the officials that Mr. Fitzgerald doth protest too much.

After the game, Musselman promptly left the court, choosing to pass on the customary postgame handshake.

Musselman said afterward he respected Fitzgerald’s coaching. And Fitzgerald said the incident was in the past.

However, it’s unlikely Christmas cards will be exchanged next year.

In the end, Fitzgerald got what he wanted out of Friday’s game - a ticket to the finals against UW.

“This is what you come here for,” Fitzgerald said. “You don’t come here for splits, you come to play for the championship. It’s important because it’s a good opponent on their floor.”

Gonzaga 60, S. Alabama 43

South Alabama (4-4) - J. McCutcheon 5-10 3-3 13, Neal 2-10

0-1 4, B. Kincaid 0-0 0-0 0, R. McCutcheon 1-11 0-0 2, Peterson 3-7 3-6 10, Osborne 2-4 2-4 6, McGovern 1-8 3-4 5, Philo 1-3 0-1 2, A. Williams 0-3 1-2 1, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-56 12-21 43

Gonzaga (6-2) - Kinloch 5-8 0-0 11, Snider 5-5 1-4 11, Rogers 4-7 8-12 16, Dixon 3-6 0-2 6, K. Williams 3-5 0-0 8, Leasure 2-3 0-1 4, Nemeth 0-0 2-2 2, Hendrix 0-0 2-2 2, Rollins 0-1 0-0 0, Ball 0-0 0-0 0, K. Kincaid 0-0 0-0 0, Bond 0-1 0-0 0, Morgan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-36 13-23 60

Halftime-Gonzaga 31, S. Alabama 19. 3-Point goals-S. Alabama 1-7 (Peterson 1-1, R. McCutcheon 0-1, McGovern 0-5), Gonzaga 3-8 (K. Williams 2-3, Kinloch 1-3, Dixon 0-1, Rollins 0-1). Fouled out-A. Williams. Rebounds-S. Alabama 31, (J. McCutcheon 8), Gonzaga 32 (Snider 10). Assists-S. Alabama 2 (Peterson, A Williams 1), Gonzaga 18 (Dixon 5). Total fouls-S. Alabama 22, Gonzaga 25. A-TBA.

Washington 82, Lehigh 66

Lehigh (2-6) - Hallett 3-6 0-0 6, Handerhan 1-1 2-2 4,

Hodgson 6-8 3-5 15, Tuohey 3-6 0-0 8, Eppehimer 1-7 2-2 5, Glenn 5-11 6-6 16, Widmer 4-8 1-3 9, Sidorov 1-4 0-0 3, Dean 0-2 0-0 0, Herold 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 14-18 66.

Washington (5-2) - Sanford 4-9 3-4 12, MacCulloch 1-2 1-2 3, Hamilton 3-4 0-0 8, Boston 6-10 1-2 15, Booker 3-7 2-3 9, Femerling 3-3 1-3 7, Thompson 1-4 4-6 6, Amos 2-3 2-4 6, Watts 1-9 3-4 5, Lopez 2-4 0-0 4, Hartman 1-6 2-3 4, Roberson 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 28-63 19-31 82.

Halftime-Washington 41, Lehigh 25. 3-Point goals-Lehigh 4-15 (Tuohey 2-3, Eppehimer 1-4, Sidorov 1-4, Dean 0-1, Glenn 0-3), Washington 7-20 (Hamilton 2-3, Boston 2-4, Roberson 1-2, Sanford 1-4, Booker 1-1, Thompson 0-2, Watts 0-2, Hartman 0-2). Fouled out-MacCulloch, Washington. Rebounds-Lehigh 27 (Hodgson 10), Washington 41 (Boston and Femerling 6). Assists-Lehigh 12 (Eppehimer 4), Washington 19 (Booker 5). Total fouls-Lehigh 22, Washington 15. A-3,125.

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