Zlatan Galaxy Star too much for the Timbers

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April 1, 2019

Carson, CA – The Los Angeles Galaxy were tied with the Portland Timbers in the 65th minute when Zlatan Ibrahimovic beat six defenders to reach the box but was fouled on a slide by goalkeeper Jeff Attinella.

Ibrahimovic, who returned to the lineup after missing two games with an injury, netted his second goal from the penalty spot to help the Galaxy to a 2-1 win over Portland Sunday at the Dignity Health Sports Park.

“I’m here to perform,” Ibrahimovic said. “I said I’m not here on vacation, I’m here to play for the Galaxy and to do my best for the Galaxy.”

Los Angeles Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic (9) scores a goal during the LA Galaxy vs Portland Timbers game at Dignity Health Sports Complex in Carson, Ca on March 31, 2019. Jevone Moore

The Swedish superstar got Los Angeles on the board first when he was fouled in the penalty area by Timbers defender Claude Dielna. Ibrahimovic converted the penalty kick to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead.

Portland tied it on a goal by Jeremy Ebobisse in the 44th minute. David Guzman found Ebobisse inside the box for the equalizer.

“I think during the game, sometimes, we managed the ball,” Galaxy coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto said. “I think we managed the game, but we couldn’t be deeper like I’d like. But, we had the possibility, they had the goal and some shot from outside the box, and nothing more.”

LA Galaxy vs Portland Timbers game at Dignity Health Sports Complex in Carson, Ca on March 31, 2019. Jevone Moore

Los Angeles improved to 3-1 on the season and sit at fifth place in the Western Conference with nine points. Up next for the Galaxy is a road game against the Vancouver Whitecaps Friday at 7 p.m.

“It is very important to be creating a winning mentality, and it’s necessary for a team to have aspirations for winning,” Barros Schelott said.

Notre Dame charges past Texas A&M to reach elite 8

By

Carl Jones

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March 30, 2019

ncaaw_und v tam-3 — NCAA Sweet 16 match up between Texas A&M Aggies vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Wintrust Arena in Chicago Saturday March 30, 2019. (Photo by Carl Jones II / fi360 News)

Chicago, IL – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had just enough team defense to defeat Chennedy Carter and the Texas A&M Aggies 87-80, in the Sweet 16 matchup at Wintrust Arena in Chicago Saturday afternoon.

Notre Dame (33-3) now has beat Texas A&M in the regional-semifinal round for the second consecutive year.

Notre Dame Arike Ogunbowale led her team with 34 pts, while forward Jessica Shepard recorded a double double with 24 points and 14 rebounds.

Arike Ogunbowale before the NCAA Sweet 16 matchup between Texas A&M Aggies vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Wintrust Arena in Chicago Saturday March 30, 2019. (Photo by Carl Jones II / fi360 News)

“Arike wins it with a defensive stop,” Irish coach Muffet McGraw said, needling her star on the postgame dais. “I think that should be the headline.”

Texas A&M guard Carter lead all players scoring 35 points, which gives her the second most points for an Aggie in a NCAA Tournament game.

Notre Dame started the third quarter with an 8-0 run capped off by a Brianna Turner layup.

“It was super physical, but that’s basketball,” Arike said, “Having the crowd on our side like that definitely helped us a lot and (gave us) momentum. I’m glad the fans made the trip.”

In the 4^th quarter Ogunbowale knocked down a 3 pointer that allowed the Irish never to looked back.

After this victory Notre Dame earned it’s ninth trip to the Elite Eight in the past 10 years.

Next up will be No 2 seed Stanford in Monday nights Chicago Regional Championship game.

Orlando Survives Scare by Memphis To Clinch Top Spot In The East

By

Brent Soule

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March 30, 2019

AAF 2019: Birmingham Iron vs Memphis Express game on March 24, 2019. (Photo by Shane Cossey / fi360 News)

AAF 2019: Johnny Manziel Memphis Express 2019. (Photo by Shane Cossey / fi360 News)

Memphis, TN – The Orlando Apollos (7-1) after being down 22-31 to the Memphis Express with 8:23 left in the game, scored two straight touchdowns to come away with a 34-31 win. With 2 games to go in regular season play, they clinched the top seed in the east for the Alliance playoffs.

An 18-yard Garrett Gilbert pass to wide receiver Charles Johnson at the 4:59 mark and a 1-yard run by running back De’Veon Smith (that was called short on the field and reversed by the replay official) gave Orlando their final two touchdowns of the game.

Defensive end Earl Okine’s interception of Memphis quarterback Brandon Silvers pass secure the victory and let Orlando run out the clock.

Gilbert put up solid numbers going 22 of 40 for a total 310 yards. But had issues with the Express defense, throwing 2 interceptions, with another two that were negated by defensive penalties and one sack for 13 yards.

Gilbert said of the Memphis defense, “They did a really nice job. They were able to create some pressure. Changing up looks in the back. They’ve got some corners that were aggressive in making plays, and I certainly missed my fair share of throws today and made some dumb decisions as well.”

AAF: Memphis Express game 2019. (Photo by Shane Cossey)

Memphis went into the half down 14-9 and which grew to 22-9 early in the 3^rd only to rally with 3 straight touchdowns to put them up by 9. The second TD came from the sack/fumble of Gilbert, by linebacker DeMarquis Gates, that was scooped and scored by defensive end Cory Crawford.

Penalties and miscues would later hamper Memphis and allow Orlando to retake the lead.

Talk of the Alliance Johnny Manziel was put in the game after two unproductive series by Memphis only to leave with a concussion. Manziel threw 2 of 3 for 13 yards and ran for 18, but ended with a pick by defensive back Will Hill III. On the return, Manziel dove for Hill and took a knee to the helmet. Manziel laid on the field before being helped off by trainers, visibly woozy.

Taking back over, Silvers would improve the rest of the game. Throwing 30 of 49 for 269 yards.

Next Saturday Memphis travels to face the west leading San Antonio Commanders (5-2). Head coach Mike Singletary said of bouncing back from today, “We’ll bounce back because we’re the Express. We’ll bounce back because I’ve got a lot of guys on our team that we came to win today. We came to play football. “

With this back and forth win Orlando goes into next weeks home game against the San Diego Fleet (3-5) showing they can come back from adversity.

Hopefully, the Alliance will be able to show such resilience. Rumors abound about the long term viability of the league or if even if they will be able to finish out their first (and possibly only) season. Majority stake owner Tom Dundon’s comments to the USA Today, concerning the Alliance’s future if they cannot come to an agreement the NFL’s Player Association and the ability to acquire young players, have many guessing on whether there will be a next game.

Notre Dame makes 10 trip to Sweet 16

By

Chris Tulley

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March 25, 2019

Women's Basketball 2019: #9 Michigan State vs #1 Notre Dame MAR 25 — Women's NCAA Tournament 2nd round 2019: No 9 Michigan State vs No 1 Norte Dame at Purcell Pavilion on March 25, 2019 (Photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Team will make its 10th straight appearance in the Sweet 16 after a dominant win over Michigan State.

In the second round of the NCAAW Tournament, Notre Dame won on its own turf 91-63 of Michigan State. Irish forward Brianna Turner recorded a 14 point, 11 rebound double-double to become the Notre Dame leader in rebounds.

The Michigan State starters only combined for 25 points from three players, while Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 for Notre Dame. Four Notre Dame starters landed double digit scoring, Jessica Shepard, Jackie Young, Turner and Ogunbowale.

Women’s NCAA Tournament 2nd round 2019: No 9 Michigan State vs No 1 Norte Dame at Purcell Pavilion on March 25, 2019 (Photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

Notre Dame (32-3), the number 1 seed, ran away with the game with a 14-0 run to end the first half. The defending National Champions controlled the post on both ends, winning both offensive and defensive rebounds. Notre Dame was up 26 points at the half, 52-26. Sydney Cooks and Shay Colley brought the same energy as they had in the Spartan’s win over Central Michigan, but Notre Dame big four kept them from finding success.

Notre Dame made 47.9 percent of its shots, including 30.8 from outside the circle and 68 from the foul line. Dwarfed in comparison, Michigan State shot 37.3 percent, 26.3 for three-pointers and 61.5 percent of free throws.

Ogunbowale now has over 2,500 career points at Notre Dame. She is the first to do so in history at Notre Dame. Michigan State loss was its worst in school tournament history.

The Irish have beaten its last 11 opponents by 29.8 ppg, and will look to do so again against 4-seed Texas A&M in Chicago Saturday. A&M (29-7) won 78-76 from a clutch 3 over Marquette.

SCORES BY QUARTERS

ND: 25 27 21 18

MSU: 14 12 17 20

MSU: L. ALLEN 5 0 2/3 12; N. CLOUDEN 0 2 2/4 8; S. COLLEY 2 0 1/2 5; N. HOLLIE 1 0 1/2 3; S. COOKS 7 1 0/0 17; K/ BELLES 5 0 0/0 10.

ND: J. SHEPARD 9 0 1/2 19; B. TURNER 5 0 4/5 14; M. MABREY 1 0 0/0 2; A. OGUNBOWALE 6 2 5/6 23; J. YOUNG6 1 6/921.

Silvers, Not Manziel, Leads Memphis in OT Win Over Birmingham

By

Brent Soule

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March 24, 2019

Memphis, TN – Fans, waiting for Johnny Manziel (2) led the offense, were disappointed to see his limited usage. But the Memphis Express (2-5) faithful were rewarded by a 31-25 comeback overtime victory over the Birmingham Iron (4-3) lead by quarterback Brandon Silvers (12).

Silvers clinch the victory in overtime with a 10-yard, goal-line pass to wide receiver Daniel Williams (86). This came after the Iron’s OT attempt, that the AAF starts from the 10-yard line and doesn’t allow field goals, yielded two incomplete passes, a sack for an 8-yard loss and a final Hail Mary that fell ineffectually to the turf.

Silvers put up 266 yards passing, going 24 of 35 with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

“Right now, Brandon is our quarterback, and I don’t want to start a quarterback controversy or what have you,” Singletary said. “I’m very very excited about what Johnny does and what he brings to the team, but Brandon’s our starting quarterback.”

Things were looking pretty dire for Memphis, halfway through the 3^rd quarter, being down to the Iron 19 to 8. The turning point came from a Birmingham series that was halted by a holding penalty. The ensuant punt was blocked by Express linebacker DeMarquis Gates (58), scooped and returned for a touchdown by defensive back Terrell Bonds (21). Reducing their deficit to 5.

The Iron score again in the fourth with a 4-yard touchdown pass by quarterback Luiz Perez (12) to tight-end Wes Saxton (83) to make it 25-14. The Express answered by putting up a field goal, and with 24 seconds left in the game, a TD pass to Reece Horn (17) and subsequent two-point conversion pass to Brandon Barnes (80) tied it up and sent the game to overtime. A first for the AAF.

Horn was the most productive receiver of the night with 113 yards off of 7 receptions. Followed by Alton Howard (81) with 3 receptions for 55 yards and Williams’ 5 for 30.

Rushing was low for the Express, with only 41 yards total. In fact, Manziel had the highest rushing total for Memphis scrambling twice for 20 yards. Manziel was in for the last series in the second quarter and two in the third. Which resulted in a missed field goal attempt and two punts. He went 3 of 5 for 48 yards and was sack twice for 11 yards.

“This is the best room I’ve ever been in,” said Manziel, “we came back and won the game, and that’s all that matters.”

Another area that Memphis is going to have to improve is their penalties. They were penalized 14 times for a total of 111 yards. Many of which coming at inopportune times, giving some stalled drives of Birmingham new life and hurting them on the scoreboard.

The Express came away with a much-needed win before having to face a 6 and 1 Orlando Apollos team next Saturday, March 30 in Memphis. Birmingham also plays at home for their Sunday game against the Atlanta Legends (2-5).

Michigan State wins shootout in NCAAW first round

By

Chris Tulley

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March 23, 2019

Women's Basketball 2019: #9 Michigan State vs #8 Central Michigan MAR 23 — Women's NCAA Tournament 1st round 2019: No 9 Michigan State vs No 8 Central Michigan at Purcell Pavilion on March 23, 2019 (Photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

Women’s NCAA Tournament 1st round 2019: No 0 Shay Colley with the winning layup to put MSU up by No 9 Michigan State vs #8 Central Michigan at Purcell Pavilion on March 23, 2019 (Photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Lady Spartan Shay Colley saved her team’s postseason run with a last second layup for the 88-87 win over Central Michigan.

With three minutes left on the clock, the two teams were tied with 80 on the scoreboard. The Chippewas struck first but Colley quickly made a field goal to bring the tie to 82. They traded two-pointers again until CMU’s Presley Hudson landed a shot outside the circle. Colley went to the post from the right side of the lane for the final basket of the game, the one that put MSU ahead.

Micaela Kelly took a shot of redemption with a second on the clock with no success.

“We were looking for a bucket to win the game and coach trusted me to make that last play and I did,” Colley said after the win.

Women’s NCAA Tournament 1st round 2019: No 4 Taryn McCutcheon dropping dimes off during the No 9 Michigan State vs No 8 Central Michigan at Purcell Pavilion on March 23, 2019 (Photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

“It was probably a very entertaining game for our fans to watch,” Michigan State head coach Suzy Merchant said. “As coaches, we could have probably used a little bit more span of a victory.”

Central Michigan (25-8) and Michigan State ( 21-11) were the eighth and ninth seed respectively.

Three of Central Michigan’s shooters, Hudson, Kelly and Reyna Frost combined for 78 of the teams 87 points. Hudson shot 8-17 for 20 points and Kelly went 8-17, 24 points. Frost led the game with 34 points.

Michigan State were flawless from the foul line, draining all 11 of its shots. The Spartans led throughout the game, going up 25-20 at the end of the first quarter. Taryn McCutcheon got hot with three straight 3’s to get25. Central Michigan then scored seven straight to get back in the game.

Women’s NCAA Tournament 1st round 2019: No 9 Michigan State vs No 8 Central Michigan at Purcell Pavilion on March 23, 2019 (Photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

The second period barely went to Central Michigan. While MSU still led at half, 43-40, CMU scored 20 to MSU’s 18.

The Chippewas 26 point fourth quarter kept Michigan State from running away with the game.

Michigan State now takes on Notre Dame, the top seed of the Chicago Region.

MSU 88, CMU 87

SCORES BY QUARTER

MSU: 25 15 23 22

CMU: 20 20 21 26

CMU: J. SMITH 1 0 0/0 2; R. FROST 15 1 1/1 34; P. HUDSON 6 2 2/2 20; M. KELLY 4 4 4/5 24; K. BUSSELL 2 1 0/0 7.

MSU: V. GAINES 4 0 0/0 8; J. ALLEN 3 0 4/4 10 N. CLOUDEN 4 1 5/5 16; S. COLLEY 5 1 0/0 13; T. MCCUTCHEON 0 4 0/0 12; S. COOKS 9 1 0/0 21; M. COOK 3 0 2/2 8.

Lady Irish, Ogunbowale suppress Bethune-Cookman

By

Chris Tulley

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March 23, 2019

Women's Basketball 2019: #16 Bethune-Cookman vs #1 Notre Dame MAR 23 — Women's NCAA Tournament 1st round 2019: No 16 Bethune-Cookman vs No 1 Notre Dame at Purcell Pavilion on March 23, 2019 (Photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame women Basketball team came in as a top seed for the NCAAW tournament, and cemented their spot with a 92-50 win over Bethune-Cookman.

The first round of the tournament saw 23 points from Irish guard Arike Ogunowale and a 22 point, 13 rebound double-double from Jessica Shepard.

Notre Dame (15-1 at home) made 54.5 percent of its shots, 36-66. Compared to BC’s 26.7 percent, the Irish compiler a highlight reel for the remainder of the games.

“March Madness is the most fun time of the year and it’s the last go around for us seniors,” Ogunbowale said. “We don’t want to leave anything behind. No regrets.”

The Lady Irish move on to the second round of the NCAAW tournament, and will take on Michigan State. MSU took out Central Michigan in an 88-87 shootout to advance. Notre Dame’s 31-3 schedule overshadows the Lady Spartans’ 21-11 season,

Notre Dame was on the board with six points before Angel Golden landed a three-point shot for the Lady Wildcats. Golden was responsible for 25 points, the most of any player in the game. She went 6-20 from outside the arc, but Bethune-Cookman only made nine of its 3s out of 34 shots.

Ogunbowale and Irish teammate Jackie Young combined for 5 three-pointers, adding up to 5/10.

A short run brought Bethune-Cookman to to 1 7-9 deficit, the closest it would come to Notre Dame. The end of the first quarter saw a 29-12 Irish lead.

Women’s NCAA Tournament 1st round 2019: No 11 Brianna Turner with a big block go No 12 Chasimmie Brown during the #16 Bethune-Cookman vs #1 Notre Dame at Purcell Pavilion on March 23, 2019 (Photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

The second quarter saw even more dominance from the home team. Bethune-Cookman scored seven in the period, while Notre Dame added 22.

“Their starting five’s size is about the size of our men’s starting five,” Lady Wildcats coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis said. “It was tough for us to get the ball inside to any of our players.”

Notre Dame 92, Bethune-Cookman 50

SCORE BY QUARTER

ND: 29 22 23 18

BC: 12 7 16 15

ND: J. SHEPARD 9 0 4/4 22; B. TURNER 8 0 3/4 19; A. OGUNBOWALE 6 2 5/5 23; J. YOUNG 3 1 2/2 11

BC: C. BROWN 0 0 2/2 2; A. SCOTT 3 0 0/0 6; A. BALL 0 1 0/0 3; C. HARRIS 1 1 0/0 5; A. GOLDEN 1 6 5/7 25

Can a NBA player make a statistical difference?

By

Christopher Martinez

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March 18, 2019

NBA 2019: GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS VS LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS JAN 18 — Tobias Harris (34) during the Golden State Warriors vs Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on January 18, 2019. (Photo by Jevone Moore)

Teams made significant changes to their rosters coming out of the NBA trade deadline but two teams that made newsworthy trades were the Los Angeles Clippers and the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Clippers seemingly gave their best player Tobias Harris along with Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott to the 76ers in exchange for Wilson Chandler, Landry Shamet, Mike Muscala.

Then the 76ers traded a 2nd round pick in exchange for James Ennis from the Houston Rockets. Then acquired Jonathan Simmons from the Orlando Magic for Markelle Fultz.

These moves made at the trade deadline made it seem as though the Clippers had put themselves outside of the playoffs but in fact the Clippers have been able to increase their 3 point percentage by 2.95% taking it from 37.7% to 40.65%.

They also have raised their free throw percentage by .6% increasing it from 78% to 78.8%, while evidently increasing their 2 point percentage by an outstanding 23.1%.

The Clippers were only hurt in one category, the field goal percentage taking a hit by 11.1% decreasing it from 46.7% to 35.6%.

The 76ers in theory should have seen a massive increase in percentages seeing they added shooters like Harris. Although on paper the 76ers have seen decreases almost across the board in all but one category.

With the new additions settling in on the team they have dropped 1.6% in field goal percentage from 48.1% to 46.5%. Also dropping their 3 point percentage 5.3% from 37% to 31.7%. With the only gain in percentage being in the free throw percentage with an increase of 5% taking them from 76% to 81%. They again see themselves drop in 2 point percentages falling 1.6% from 54.4% to a 52.8%.

Looking at this data it brings up a question. With the moves made and players added to both squads who makes the difference?

It comes down to Los Angeles Clippers Landry Shamet who since joining the Clippers on the trade deadline as seen significant growth in 3 point percentage and free throw percentage.

Shamet has added 5% to his 3 point shooting raising it from 40.9% to 45.9% as well as increasing his free throw percentage by .9% raising it from 80.9% to 81.8%. Shamet only takes a slight 2.4% hit on his field goal percentage lowering it from 44.9% to 42.5%.

Shamet has been seeing an improvement in his shooting, unlike Philadelphia 76er Tobias Harris who has seen a steady decrease in numbers since joining the team.

Harris has seen only a .1% increase since joining the 76ers. He added a .1% increase to his field goal percentage going from 48.1% to 48.2%. Things worsen for Harris as he drops 4% in 3 point percentage 41.9% to 37.9%; and dropping another 2.1% from the line dropping under 90% from 90.3% to now 88.2%.

Now with the Clippers being the only team in the playoffs without an NBA All-Star and outshooting a team who has multiple it is safe to say new players can change a team shooting stats regardless of stardom.

The San Diego Fleet fall short at home to the Iron

By

Kareem Jones

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March 17, 2019

AAF Commanders vs Fleet game action on February 24, 2019. (Photo by Nick Koza)

San Diego, CA – The Birmingham Iron (4-2) defeated the San Diego Fleet (3-3), 32-29 to erase their perfect record at home during their matchup at SDCCU Stadium on Sunday evening.

With :03 left in the game, Iron kicker Nick Novak hit a 44-yard field goal to disrupt San Diego’s efforts to comeback from behind.

It was a hard fought battle between both teams until the very end.

The Birmingham Iron scored the first touchdown of the game behind quarterback, Luis Perez’s short 13-yard pass over the middle of the field to running back, Trent Richardson who pushed himself into the end zone during the first quarter.

A few drives later another short pass was completed to wide receiver, L’Damian Washington who slipped a defender and broke for 83-yards down the field for a touchdown with 8:56 remaining in the first half.

The Iron offense moved the ball effectively with a ton of short yardage throws and powerful runs by Trent Richardson when they needed it.

Coming into this game Trent Richardson led the league with eight touchdowns and receiving yards amongst running backs with 142 yards through week five.

Tonight, he added an additional 44-yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns.

Iron quarterback, Luis Perez remained solid for the Iron as he threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns.

Despite throwing two interceptions, Perez was poise under pressure and helped his team to victory in the city he grew up in.

“For me to get in and be able to pull off a win as a team like this in front of my hometown is a great feeling,” Perez said.

As for the Fleet, they struggled early on not producing much on offense.

“These are self-inflicted wounds and these are things that we can control,” Fleet head coach Mike Martz said at the end of the game. “We have to clean all that up for us to have a chance to win.”

For a team that averages 124.4 yards per game rushing they could not hit the ground effectively only rushing for a total of 67 yards against a talented Iron defense who forced two turnovers.

There were many quick three and outs for the Fleet offense leaving their defense in tough positions.

Although, the Fleet defense had two takeaways with interceptions from outside linebacker Travis Feeny and free safety Demetrius Wright they could not find an answer for the Iron offense as they marched down the field consistently.

“We’re constantly learning,” Fleet defensive end Damontre Moore said. “We take what we did well and we also learn from what we did bad.”

However, the Fleet were able to keep the score close with touchdowns by tight end, Ben Johnson and running back, Terrell Watson who scored twice in the third quarter.

Later in the game the Fleet were knocking on the door of the endzone and another touchdown pass was thrown by Fleet quarterback Mike Bercovici to wide receiver Francis Owusu, to tie the game 29-29 with 4:36 left in the fourth quarter.

That touchdown gave the Fleet some hope with a potential overtime situation.

At least until the Iron offense rumbled down the field on the ensuing drive to set up the game winning field goal.

Oregon Ducks earn a ticket to the dance

By

Jevone Moore

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March 16, 2019

PAC-12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Rick Gurrola / fi360 News)

Payton Pritchard during the PAC-12 Basketball Tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Rick Gurrola / fi360 News)

Las Vegas, NV – When the odds have been stacked against you only have two choices, go with them or break them. The Oregon Ducks did just that by rattling off 8 wins in a row.

This 8th victory defeating No 1 seed Washington Huskies 68-48 to win the PAC-12 Championship and the automatic bid to NCAA’s Tournament.

March Madness has already began well before selection Sunday for the Ducks and many other teams playing in their perspective conference tournaments for automatic bids.

PAC-12 Basketball Tournament at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Rick Gurrola / fi360 News)

The Ducks were lead by guard Payton Pritchard who dropped 20 points, 7 assist and 6 rebounds.

“Everybody doubt us,” said Pritchard, “we just prepared like coach said and didn’t talk about the tournament.”

Washington went step for step with the Ducks in the first half only trailing by two points

28-26. Both teams needed to make some halftime adjustments to win.

The Ducks took charge of the second half by jumping out to a 11 point lead 39 – 28 12:00 2nd half.

Ducks coach Dana Altman let Pritchard loose to led them down the stretch again. The last four games his offense output was 7 points first round, 20 points quarterfinals, 18 points semifinals and 20 points championship game.