#8 Philadelphia U. Almost Pulls Off Second 8-1 Upset in as Many Days in Tough 58-53 Loss to #1 AIC in NCAA Regional
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 14, 2015) -- Derek Johnson had a team-best 16 points to lead Philadelphia University's upset bid of No. 1 seed American International College on Saturday night, but the Yellow Jackets scored the game's last six points in the final :36 to pull out a narrow 58-53 win in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Regional Tournament at Butova Gymnasium in Springfield, Mass.
The No. 8 seeded Rams put up a gutsy effort in trying to become the second team from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) in the last two days to take down the East Region's No. 1 seed. PhilaU capped its impressive season with a 24-8 record. AIC improved to 24-6, and advanced to Sunday night's regional semifinals, where they will face either Southern Connecticut State or Bridgeport at 7:30 p.m.
Bobby Harris pumped in a game-high 17 points for AIC, including the go-ahead layup with :36 left to put the Yellow Jackets up 54-53 after they had trailed for the majority of the second half. His two free throws with :13 remaining extended the lead out to 56-53, and following PhilaU's last second attempt at a tying three from Johnson, Marcus Porter collected the loose ball and knocked down both freebees to seal it.
Before American International's late charge to avoid the upset, PhilaU took the play to the Yellow Jackets, including shooting at a 52-percent clip in the first half to build a 33-26 lead at halftime.
The Rams led by as many as 11 on two separate occasions in the opening 20 minutes, including at 26-15 with 7:22 left after a tip-in from Johnson.
Harris and AIC chipped away at the deficit and pulled to within 28-24 on his layup, but the Rams countered with five-consecutive points from Johnson to take a nine-point advantage with :30 left in the frame.
American International came out firing in the opening minutes of the second half, and scored eight-straight points to take a slim 34-33 lead. Four different players scored for AIC during the opening stretch, including Oscar Assie, Trahmier Burrell, Porter, and Cameron Dobbs.
The Rams weren't about to go away that easily, and Johnson followed by raining in a three-ball, while Peter Alexis dropped in back-to-back layups to put PhilaU up 40-36 with 15:13 left. T.J. Huggins made it 42-38 with a layup at the 12:58 mark, but the teams went scoreless for the next three-plus minutes before Alexis broke the drought with two foul shots.
Harris tied the game at 48-all with a three with 6:44 left and Nick Schlitzer equaled him at the other end to put the Rams back up. Porter laid in a bucket at the other end and Dobbs hit two free throws on AIC's next possession to put the Yellow Jackets back up 52-51. Alexis, once again, came up big on the offensive end with a basket with 90 seconds left to give PhilaU its final lead at 53-52.
The Rams, however, could not equal their strong first-half shooting in the final 20, as they converted at just a 30-percent mark (8-of-27). Alexis finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Schlitzer added 12 as well.
Porter followed Harris with 13 for AIC, while Burrell and Dobbs went for 12 and 10, respectively.