OVERTIME
Seton Hall72
Oregon71
BUFFALO — The play was called “Quick,” and it was designed for Shaheen Holloway to get the ball to Rimas Kaukenas or Darius Lane for a 3-pointer. But Holloway had played four years at Seton Hall and practiced all his life for this mo-
ment, his Pirates trailing Oregon in the waning seconds of yesterday’s East Regional opener. There was no way the ball was leaving his hands — that is, until he put up the game-winner.
Holloway had eight seconds to dribble 94 feet and beat Oregon’s entire defense for a last-ditch shot; he did it in six. He escaped a double-team at midcourt, drove the lane and with a flick of his right wrist — the same wrist that was swollen and throbbing with pain from an earlier spill — banked a shot off the box and in with less than two seconds left.
Holloway’s layup lifted The Hall to a 72-71 overtime “upset” of the seventh-seeded Ducks (22-8) yesterday in front of 19,357 at HSBC Arena. It was the Pirates’ first NCAA game in six years and their first Tourney win in seven; and for sheer drama it was worth the wait.
When Lane caught Alex Scales’ halfcourt heave at the buzzer to seal The Hall’s win, Holloway was hoisted in the air by assistant Chris Collins, who worked on the winning play each day at pratice with the guard. On St. Patrick’s Day the St. Patrick’s H.S. grad poured in a game-high 27 points, none more important than the last two. And Holloway’s heroics lifted the 10th-seeded Hall (21-9) into a second-round date with second-seeded and fifth-ranked Temple (27-5) tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
“I told our big guy there was no way I was giving it up. I was trying to run the play, but they double-teamed me. I went to the middle and saw it open. Sam [Dalembert] did a great job of screening his man so I could get to the basket,” said the Queens-bred Holloway. “Growing up as a little kid, you watch the Tournament and you see people doing stuff like this, and you say, ‘One day I want to be a part of that.’ It’s definitely a great feeling.”
Great for The Hall, gut-wrenching for the Ducks; especially after they had quacked about being “only” a seventh seed and whined about being sent East. And especially after they thought they had the game won, taking a 71-70 lead on Frederick Jones’ free throws with :8.7 left in OT.
But Holloway took the inbounds, cut to the middle to escape a double-team by Bryan Bracey and Scales, and got a great screen by Dalembert (12 rebounds, six blocks, career-high two assists). Holloway beat Scales again with a spin at the top of the key; Scales tried to block the high-arcing shot from behind, but to no avail.
Holloway hurt his wrist when he was knocked into a camera with four minutes left in the first half, and 3:55 into the second half Kaukenas got fouled by Scales (16 points) and landed awkwardly on the same left ankle he sprained five games ago. But he got taped, checked back in and hit a jumper with 7:07 left that gave The Hall its biggest lead at 57-47.
Oregon went on a 17-5 run to take a 64-62 lead on Bracey’s free throws with :12.7 left in regulation, but Kaukenas, bad ankle and all, split two defenders for a layup with three seconds left to force OT.
There were seven more lead changes in the extra session. Darius Wright stripped Holloway and fed Bracey for a reverse dunk and a 69-68 lead, but The Hall’s Lane — who shot just 5-for-18 — stole a Jones pass and went in for a layup and a 70-69 lead with :36.3 left. Jones’ free throws did give Oregon the lead, but Holloway’s heroics took care of that.
“This is how I expected it to end up,” said Kaukenas, who finished with 14 points. “I knew it was going to be a happy ending.”
