ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 29, 1996 TAG: 9603290077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
Junior center Mikki Moore came up big in the final 5 1/2 minutes Thursday night to lead Nebraska to its first national tournament title in basketball as the Cornhuskers beat St. Joseph's 60-56 to win the NIT.
Nebraska, no stranger to winning it all in football, salvaged what looked like a horrible regular season by winning the nation's oldest postseason tournament at Madison Square Garden.
The Cornhuskers (21-14) looked to be in control with a 41-28 lead with 16:36 to play. But the Hawks (19-13), playing in front of 30 busloads of students who made the 100-mile trip from Philadelphia, tied the score at 47.
St. Joseph's, which never has won a national title in basketball, used a 14-2 run to draw even, with reserve Terrell Myers scoring half the points. The run included an intentional foul against Nebraska's Tyronn Lue that turned into a five-point play.
But Nebraska didn't let the Hawks go ahead and the 6-foot-11 Moore gave the Cornhuskers a 55-49 lead when he dunked and was fouled. He missed the free throw for the three-point play, but he grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made two free throws with 5:27 left.
Nebraska wouldn't score again until there were 40 seconds left, but Moore was there on the defensive end, blocking shots by Reggie Townsend and Rashid Bey that could have made it a two-point game.
Erick Strickland, who led the Cornhuskers with 13 points, made four straight free throws in the final minute and Moore added one more with 15 seconds left to seal the win.
Moore, Jaron Boone and Lue each added 11 points for the Cornhuskers, the first team from the Big Eight to win the NIT since Colorado in 1940.
Townsend led the Hawks with 18 points, and Dmitri Domani had 14.
Nebraska, which lost 10 of 11 games to close the regular season, beat Tulane in the semifinals, and St. Joseph's defeated Alabama in overtime to reach the title game.
In the consolation game, Jerald Honeycutt scored 18 points and LaVeldro Simmons added 17, leading Tulane past Alabama 87-76 .
The Green Wave (22-10) never trailed and held off three runs by the Crimson Tide (19-13), which got no closer than four points down the stretch, the last time at 71-67.
The teams met earlier in the season and Alabama overcame a 16-point second-half deficit in that one for an 80-79 victory. The Crimson Tide trailed 67-55 this time with 10:59 to play and scored eight straight points to get within four.
But Tulane closed the game by making six of seven free throws over the final 1:30 to seal the win.
Eric Washington led Alabama with a career-high 35 points on 11-for-19 shooting, including 5-for-8 from 3-point range. The junior guard averaged 26 points over the five games in the NIT.
Roy Rogers added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Crimson Tide, which failed to win 20 games in a season for only the second time in the 1990s.
Patrick Lewis added 14 points for the Green Wave and Chris Cameron had 12.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB