Former Nic Standout Fits Right In Lofton Helps Weber State Come Within An Eyelash Of Regional Semifinals

Allen Iverson, Shawn Respert, Lewis Lofton. Pick out the name that didn’t belong in the NCAA Tournament?

Trick question: All showed they belong.

Lofton, the former North Idaho College basketball standout from Centralia, Wash., played a prominent role as unheralded Weber State stunned Michigan State on Friday and narrowly lost to Georgetown on Sunday.

For the Big Sky, the Wildcats’ win was the conference’s first in the first round since Don Monson-coached Idaho topped Iowa 69-67 in overtime in 1982.

For Lofton, it was validation of his and Weber’s abilities.

“Nobody respected us because we’re a small school,” said Lofton, via telephone Monday from Tallahassee, Fla., where Weber played in the Southeast Regional. “It was stuff like, ‘Where’s Weber State? What state is that in?’ It drove us, and we wanted to show we could play.”

At a press conference before the Michigan State game, a reporter asked a Spartan how he planned on defending Weber State guard Ruben Nembhard. “Ruben who?,” responded the player.

Nembhard scored 27 points to help send Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote into early retirement. Lofton had 14 points in each game.

“This will help the Big Sky,” Lofton said. “It will definitely help with recruits, with respect. When a team plays a Big Sky school, they need to respect them.”

When WSU wasn’t in a zone defense, Lofton spent much of his time chasing Respert, MSU’s All-American long-range bomber, and Iverson, Georgetown’s highly touted freshman.

Respert scored 16 points in the first half and finished with 28, but he was silenced when Weber rallied to take a 10-point lead in the second half. Respert shot 10 of 23.

Iverson hit 6 of 21 while scoring 16 points.

“They’d set three screens to get him (Respert) open,” said Lofton, who plans to finish his secondary education degree at Eastern Washington University. He also hopes to play pro basketball. “Iverson was really just one on one.”

Two visual images of Lofton persist: He was the last player to approach Heathcote as the Michigan State coach left the court for the final time. And on Sunday, he harried Iverson into a desperate 3-point attempt that was snagged out of the air by Don Reid for a game-winning layup. As Georgetown players poured onto the court, Lofton was shown waving his arms, indicating he felt Reid’s shot came after the buzzer.

“I tried to make him (Iverson) throw up a wild shot and he did. Their guy just got loose (for the put-back),” said the Weber State senior, who viewed Reid’s shot on replay and acknowledged that the correct call had been made.

Weber State had had a chance to break a 51-51 tie with 7 seconds left, but Nembhard missed the front end of a one-and-one.

“Ruben came up to me and said, ‘Lew, I’m sorry,’ ” Lofton said. “I told him it wasn’t his fault. That’s the worst part about athletics, everybody makes mistakes. If I could have eliminated some of my four turnovers, we would have won. It’s a team game.”

And the best part of athletics?

“We were a buzzer away from the Sweet 16,” he said, without hesitation. “We feel like we should be playing North Carolina, but that’s how things go.”