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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Cougars Hang On For Win Fontaine’s Basket Decisive As WSU Moves On At Nit

In a game of big decisions, Washington State made most of the right ones Monday night.

But none was as right - or as important - as getting the basketball into the hands of Isaac Fontaine at crunch time.

And once it was made, with 30 seconds left in the game, Fontaine responded by snaking down the lane and hitting a short jump shot that lifted the Cougars to an 83-80 win over Illinois State in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.

The victory propelled WSU (18-11) into a quarterfinal matchup against Canisius (20-12) Thursday night in Buffalo, N.Y. The winner advances to the semifinals March 27 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

“What a fantastic basketball game,” Cougar coach Kevin Eastman said after guiding WSU to its first back-to-back postseason wins since the school’s 1941 drive to the NCAA finals. “We feel very fortunate to leave this building with a win.”

ISU, buoyed by a deafening crowd of 8,751 that rocked Redbird Arena throughout the game, sliced an 11-point WSU lead to 79-78 on a pair of late 3s by Antonio Cooper.

The last one came with 2:15 remaining and set the stage for a frantic finish.

Mark Hendrickson, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds despite late-game foul problems, hit a pair of free throws to put WSU up 81-78 with 1:58 left. But ISU’s Brian Kern answered with two free throws a minute later.

Fontaine, who led all scorers with 23 points, then took charge on a late-clock, one-on-one matchup against Dan Muller and hit the tough, clutch shot that proved to be the winner.

The Redbirds, opting not to call a timeout, moved the ball quickly across midcourt and ran through its motion offense before freshman Jamar Smiley launched a pressured 3-pointer that missed badly with just under 5 seconds left.

Hendrickson took the rebound and made a quick outlet pass that allowed the clock to run out before ISU could foul.

Afterward, Redbirds coach Kevin Stallings admitted he probably should have called a timeout to set up a final play.

“But you have to go with what you bring,” he added, “and we’ve been very good at coming up with the kind of shot we need in those situations all season long.”

Stallings said he was more disappointed in his team’s inability to stop Fontaine on the previous possession than he was with the shot Smiley took.

“We needed a stop on the ball then and we wouldn’t have been forced to take the 3-pointer,” he explained. “But we didn’t get the stop we needed.”

Eastman, who had earlier made the critical call to put Hendrickson - who was on the bench with four fouls - back in the game with 6 minutes to play, was faced with another tough decision on ISU’s final possession.

With his team up by three, he had the option of fouling and putting the Redbirds at the free throw line, where they could have made up only two points of their deficit.

“I’ve been involved in a lot three-point games,” Eastman said, “and it’s always been a coaching decision of mine not to foul in that situation, because you have to hope you’re a good defensive team.

“Donminic (Ellison) was on Smiley, and we just told him to stay close enough to contest the shot because Smiley is more of a driver and a full-court penetrator than he is a catch-it-and-shoot-it or shoot-off-the-dribble shooter.

“And I thought Donminic did a great job on that play.”

Stallings said it was WSU’s quickness, strength and size that made the difference in the game.

“They were obviously very difficult to cover,” he said of the Cougars. “We were at a quickness disadvantage at several positions.

“They’re bigger than we are, they’re stronger than we are and they’re faster than we are - and that’s a tough combination for us to try to deal with. Quite honestly, they’re as good as anybody we’ve played this season.”

The Cougars finished with five starters in double figures and abused the Redbirds on the boards, 37-24. Shamon Antrum scored 18 points, Tavares Mack 12 and Ellison 11.

Senior guard Chad Altadonna, who led ISU with 17 points, said the Cougars were by far the quickest team he faced all year.

“They were able to get inside our defense and finish or kick out our shots all night,” he explained. “We really wanted to keep the game in front of us, but we didn’t do a very good job of it.”

Eastman was equally impressed with the Redbirds.

“Illinois State has good players and we have good players,” he said. “It just happened tonight that we won the game.”

Washington St. 83, Illinois St. 80

WASHINGTON STATE (18-11)

Fontaine 10-16 2-2 23, Hendrickson 5-10 3-4 13, Mack 5-10 2-2 12, Ellison 4-10 0-0 11, Antrum 6-16 2-2 18, Griffin 0-1 0-0 0, Daniel 2-3 0-0 4, Corkrum 1-1 0-1 2, Vik 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-68 9-10 83.

ILLINOIS STATE (20-13)

Wright 1-4 2-4 4, Muller 2-5 1-1 6, Kern 5-8 6-7 16, Trotter 4-7 0-0 9, Cason 3-6 0-0 6, Franklin 2-6 4-4 8, Smiley 1-4 1-2 3, Altadonna 5-8 4-4 17, Cooper 2-2 0-0 6, Gibbons 2-3 1-1 5. Totals 27-53 19-23 80.

Halftime-46-46. 3-point goals-Washington St. 8-23 (Antrum 4-12, Ellison 3-7, Fontaine 1-2, Hendrickson 0-1, Vik 0-1), Illinois St. 7-14 (Altadonna 3-5, Cooper 2-2, Trotter 1-2, Muller 1-3, Smiley 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Washington St. 37 (Hendrickson 10), Illinois St. 24 (Kern 7). Assists-Washington St. 15 (Ellison 6), Illinois St. 19 (Cason 7). Total fouls-Washington St. 18, Illinois St. 11. A-8,751.

MEMO: This sidebar ran with story: ON DECK WSU will face Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y., on Thursday

This sidebar ran with story: ON DECK WSU will face Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y., on Thursday