TELEGRAM: Greyhounds men's basketball plays Bentley for regional championship TONIGHT!

March 18, 2008

Hounds shoot for upset

WORCESTER TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER- Bentley defeated Assumption College 10 days ago to capture the Northeast-10 Conference tournament championship, but a lot of people at the Dana Center that afternoon had the feeling these great rivals would meet again before the season was over.

"As we were going through the line shaking hands, (Bentley) Coach (Jay) Lawson said to me, "'See you next week,' " Assumption senior Corey Diethorn said. "So I think he knew deep down inside, like we knew deep down inside, we wanted to see them again."

As Lawson watched his players cut down the nets after their 93-77 win, he predicted a Bentley NCAA Division 2 Tournament run would indeed have to go through the Greyhounds.

The longtime foes play tonight for the Northeast Regional title, with the winner advancing to the Elite Eight March 26-29 in Springfield. Tonight's tipoff is at 7 at the Dana Center in Waltham. Tickets ($8 adults, $3 students) are available at the Assumption athletics office from 9 a.m. to noon.

Assumption (24-10) is appearing in the NCAA regional final for the first time since 2002. Bentley, undefeated at 32-0 and the No. 1 team in the country, is the defending regional champion.

This will be the fourth meeting of the year for Assumption and Bentley. Yesterday, Greyhounds coach Serge DeBari could not recall ever having faced an opponent four times in a season. The Falcons defeated AC by an average margin of 13 points in the three previous games.

"When you review our tapes, we've had sequences where we've been very successful against them," DeBari said. "We haven't sustained it for 40 minutes, and that's the mark of a championship team. You can't let down against them."

The Greyhounds won their first two regional matchups in comeback style, rallying from 18 down against Holy Family in the quarterfinals and from nine down against Saint Rose in the semis.

Diethorn, who led Assumption in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots this season, has put up back-to-back double-doubles, averaging 18 points and 13.5 rebounds. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound forward scored 22 points against Holy Family and led an important second-half run against Saint Rose.

"Corey can accurately be called our finisher," DeBari said. "We have a lot of initiators in Patrick Shea and Courtland Bluford and Greg Twomey, but those are usually the guys who get him the ball at the right spot at the right time. If Corey's having a good game, it usually means we're having a good game executing everything and he's getting the ball in the right spots."

Diethorn was a second-team all-conference selection and scored his 1,000th career point - on a dunk - earlier this year against Saint Rose. His slam against the Golden Knights during Sunday's game ignited the Greyhounds in the second half.

"When he goes, we go," Twomey said, "and he's just playing great."

Diethorn averaged a very respectable 11.5 points and 8.1 rebounds as a junior, but the Hounds won just 11 games. He was determined to make his senior year a memorable one. A heart-to-heart in DeBari's office at the end of last year set him on a mission.

"Coach said, ?You're going to be a senior and your senior year is going to be what you remember the rest of your life. You can go out with trumpets sounding or nothing,' " Diethorn said. "That stuck with me all summer. I worked out as much as I could and all season I've tried to work as hard as I can. As the season goes on, you think, ?This could be my last game, my last practice.' I don't want it to be."

Diethorn also had a solid NE-10 tourney, averaging 9 rebounds and 16.3 points in three games.

"It's more than just the finishing part," DeBari said, "it's the other aspects of his game. He has to contribute as a rebounder and he has to contribute defensively because that's the staple of our team."

Defense keyed the Greyhounds' turnarounds the last two games. They held Holy Family and Saint Rose to an average of 58.5 points on 33 percent shooting and kept each team scoreless for six minutes during crucial junctures of the second half.

Shea, one of the best defenders in the NE-10, did his part matching up against Holy Family's Michael Sturns and Saint Rose's Steve Dagostino. Those senior stars were a combined 14 of 41 from the field.

The Hounds will need to repeat their efforts against Bentley. Four Falcons average in double figures in scoring and "they have five people that are 20-point scorers at any time," DeBari said. "It boils down to executing for 40 minutes."

Diethorn is from Pittsburgh. His room, in the on-campus apartment he shares with Twomey and two other Assumption students, is decorated in black and gold. Twomey, who is from Groton, and the others won't allow those Steelers colors in the common areas, though. "They won't let that fly," said Diethorn, who has become a Red Sox fan over the last four years.

Diethorn and Twomey have been roommates since they were freshmen. They suffered through a four-win first season, transitioned to a new coach, aided in the program's rebuilding, and have played vital roles in helping Assumption get to this point.

The Greyhounds are one of 16 teams in all of Division 2 still playing.

"How can you not be excited?" Diethorn said. "Sweet 16? It's pretty amazing. To grow as much as we have as a team, it just means a lot."