Corey Diethorn (22 points), Courtland Bluford (21 points) lead Greyhound men's basketball past Holy Family, 74-66, in regional quarterfinal overtime thriller

March 15, 2008

N.C.A.A. DIVISION II NORTHEAST REGIONAL

Assumption 74, Holy Family 64

WALTHAM, Mass. --- Senior forward COREY DIETHORN (Pittsburgh, PA/Sewickley Academy) scored 22 points with 13 rebounds and five blocked shots and sophomore guard COURTLAND BLUFORD (Ft. Washington, MD/St. Vincent Pallotti) added a career-high 21 points as second-seeded Assumption College men's basketball defeated seventh-seeded Holy Family (Philadelphia, PA), 74-66, in overtime in the quarterfinal round of the N.C.A.A. Division II regional tournament SATURDAY at Bentley College's Dana Athletic Center.

The Greyhounds will face The College of Saint Rose SUNDAY evening at 5 p.m. in the semifinal round. The Golden Knights (23-7) defeated Philadelphia (22-9), 85-75 in four overtimes in their quarterfinal game.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL NORTHEAST REGIONAL

Quarterfinal Results: Saturday, March 15, 2008

No. 3 Saint Rose (23-7) 85, No. 6 Philadelphia (22-12) 75, 4 ot

No. 2 Assumption (23-10) 74, No. 7 Holy Family (21-10) 66, ot

No. 1 Bentley (31-0) 81, No. 8 Merrimack (17-12) 68

No. 5 Bryant (18-12) 63, No. 4 L.I.U.-C.W. Post (26-5) 56

Semifinal Games: Sunday, March 16, 2008

Saint Rose vs. Assumption, 5 p.m.

Bentley vs. Bryant, 7:30 p.m.

Championship Game: Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Winner advances to the Elite Eight, Springfield, MA, March 26-29

Assumption College is playing in its 25th N.C.A.A. tournament, third most in Division II history---behind Kentucky Wesleyan (33), Philadelphia (30) and tied with Virginia Union (25). They are now 23-10 overall, as the most improved team in the region, after finishing 11-17 last season. The team won its 1,000th game in its history earlier this season against Post, CT (64-62) (12/29/07) and is the winningiest team in New England Division II history at 1,013-826.

Holy Family, the Central Atlantic Conference champion (both regular season and playoff), was riding a seven-game win streak entering the game. They finished their season at 21-10.

The Greyhounds trailed by as much as 18 points, 32-14, in the first half and led by five, 62-57, with 37 seconds remaining in regulation. But, Holy Family senior guard MICHAEL STURNS (Fort Worth, TX), the nation's Division II leading scorer at 26.5 points-per-game, stuck a three-pointer with two seconds left to send the game to overtime.

Diethorn started the overtime making two free throws before senior guard RYAN LANCASTER (Egg Harbor, NJ/Egg Harbor) made an inside move to the basket to tie it at 64-64.

Senior forward GREG TWOMEY (Groton, MA/Groton-Dunstable) (11 points) scored two free throws after collecting an offensive rebound and then junior guard PATRICK SHEA (Salem MA/Salem) made a long-range three-pointer from the top-of-the-circle and Bluford followed with a solo end-to-end drive for a 72-64 advantage with 1:01 left.

The Tigers came out-of-the-gate quickly moving to a 14-4 advantage in the first six minutes. A tipin by junior center TIM MC KEOWN (Philadelphia, PA/Mercy Voke) and a layin by Lancaster made it 4-0 before Diethorn broke the ice for the Greyhounds with a free throw at 17:51. Sturns then made a straightaway jumper, Diethorn made another free throw, and Lancaster buried a long three-pointer from the right wing for a 9-2 advantage.

After Bluford made the Hounds' first basket of the game at 15:23 Sturns made three-pointer and Lancaster made another move inside for a 14 4 lead. Lancaster's straightaway jujmper with 6:32 left made it 32-14.

The Greyhounds would outscore Holy Family, 17-4, the remainder of the half---including the final 10 points---to move within five, 36-31, at the break. Diethorn hit a short baseline jumper, Bluford drove the lane for a pair of runners, Diethorn dunked off a feed from senior forward MIKE FOTI (Franklin, MA/Franklin) and then hit a short lane jumper with four seconds left.

After Sturns made a layup for Holy Family with 15:52 left to make it 44-37, the Greyhounds went on a 14-0 run to lead 51-44.

Bluford started the mini-spurt with a nift inside move and Diethorn followed with a skyhook from in front and Shea tied it with a long three pointer from above the top-of-the-circle. Freshman forward MIKE BALDARELLI (Sutton, MA/Holy Name) then made a wing three-pointer and Twomey and Shea scored inside for the seven-point lead.

Holy Family again clawed back into contention with Sturns making a a pair of free throws to tie the game at 53-53 with 6:56 left.

Sturns led the Tigers with 28 points and five assists, while Lancaster ended with 22 points. The Tigers' duo made an amazing 19-of-50 from the floor! Sturns and McKeown each ended with 11 rebounds as Holy Family enjoyed a 57-48 advantage on the boards.

GREYHOUNDS NOTES: senior forward COREY DIETHORN (Pittsburgh, PA/Sewickley Academy) now has scored 1,150 points to move into 25th place in Hounds' annals just three points behind Eric Inauen (1965 69) (1,153) . . . senior forward GREG TWOMEY (Groton, MA/Groton Dunstable) now has 1,034 points . . . Coach SERGE DEBARI '71 now has 99 wins on the Assumption bench and an overall mark of 323-253 in his years at both Babson College and Assumption . . . this is 33rd game for the Greyhounds which ties the team record for a season set in DeBari's (23-10) 1997-98 season . . . leading rebounders for the Hounds were Diethorn and Shea with 13 each . . . Shea played 43 of the 45 minutes . . . the game marked the FIFTH time this season that the Greyhounds had rallied from a double-digit deficit to win . . . 3/15/08 vs. Holy Family (-18, 14-32); 1/26/08 at Saint Anselm (-12, 30-42); 12/28/07 vs. Philadelphia (-15, 35-50); 12/18/07 at C.W. Post (-12, 18-30) and 11/28/07 vs. Bryant (-11, 34-45) . . .

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