Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 26, 1993 TAG: 9303260155
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
SEMINOLES WERE TRULY FORTUNATE
The team that plays best doesn't always win.Florida State's basketball success Thursday night in the NCAA Tournament's Southeast Regional came in dribbles. Western Kentucky appeared to have the Seminoles right where it wanted them.
That was at the free-throw line in the Charlotte Coliseum, where the second half was little but a foul-shooting experience for the ACC regular-season runners-up.
FSU outlasted the smaller Hilltoppers 81-78 in overtime, but the third-seeded Seminoles were fortunate just to force the extra period. That's because coach Pat Kennedy's high-profile, three-man backcourt was producing little.
Still, Western was only two bounces from sending the game into a second extra period. Cypheus Bunton's buzzer-beating 3-point attempt from the right wing hit the iron, bounced straight up as the horn sounded . . . and caught the rim again on the way down.
"It was a game of great emotion," said Western coach Ralph Willard, whose team controlled the tempo and refused to fold despite foul problems. "It's a tough loss to take."
In either half, FSU could have run away to its first trip to the NCAA's regional final since the 1972 national runner-up club.
The Seminoles wasted an 11-point first-half lead, then, by missing free throws in the second half, allowed Western to dominate the style of play.
In the 20 minutes of regulation time in the second half, FSU was 9-of-23 from the free-throw line. The Seminoles, who had shot 53.4 percent from the floor in their first two NCAA wins, were offensively slowed by Western's extended defense.
Big man Doug Edwards had four fouls early, so dominating the 'Toppers - whose starting lineup averages less than 6 feet 4 - was out of the question. In the backcourt, point man Charlie Ward was throwing the ball away, and Sam Cassell was 3-of-14 with his jumper.
Kennedy's biggest guard - birthday boy Bob Sura - was making a stupid play for every hoop he converted. He spent most of the last 10 minutes of regulation seated next to Kennedy.
FSU made 49 percent of its shots, but got 14 fewer than the region's seventh-seeded team. If Western's offensive efficiency had been decent, another high seed would have been history.
"We did some bad things," Ward said. "We hung in there. It's obvious we were fortunate to win."
It happened because in overtime, the Seminoles got 3-pointers from Sura and Cassell and made four of six free throws. It happened because Western had two turnovers in the last 53 seconds.
And, the red towel-waving Western fans forever will say it happened because, after the Hilltoppers had lost top scorer Darnell Mee with 1:10 to go in regulation, 5-foot-8 leader Mark Bell was lost on a questionable call.
With FSU leading 78-76, Bell drove the left side of the lane as the clock slipped under 1:00. He dished to forward Chris Robinson, who scored . . . but the tying hoop was waved off by official Tom O'Neill.
Bell was called for charging Ward, the fifth foul for the Hilltoppers' little big man. Willard screamed, jumped, stomped and kicked at a chair.
He missed - but Ward didn't. His two free throws gave the Seminoles a four-point cushion. It was enough to keep Western from being the first Sun Belt Conference team in the NCAA's final eight since Alabama-Birmingham in 1982.
"I'm not allowed to comment on the foul," Willard said. "It's just a tough way to lose. I didn't see the play well enough to comment on it, but it is a tough way to lose."
Having better marksmanship from the field than from the stripe is a tough way to win, too.
"To be successful in this tournament, you need some kind of luck," Cassell said after his worst shooting performance in his two FSU seasons. "We got some luck today."