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Eleventh Heaven
Folarin Campbell, far left, Sammy Hernandez, middle, and Tony Skinn, holding jersey, savor becoming the lowest seed in the Final Four since 1986. "We didn't feel it was impossible," said Lamar Butler, the region's most outstanding player.
(By Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)
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"I told them, 'There's no place on earth I'd rather be than here with you guys,' " he recalled later. " 'Now we have to beat them in a five-minute game.' "
They did, thanks to one clutch shot after another. Thomas hit a jump hook in the lane. Butler, the region's most outstanding player, banked a driving shot off the backboard. Lewis scored off an inbounds play. Thomas scored again; the 6-foot-7 sophomore, who is now 8-0 in his high school and college career against Gay, finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Then Campbell made perhaps the game's biggest basket, a fadeaway baseline jump shot over Gay as the shot clock was winding down.
That gave George Mason a four-point lead. But poor free throw shooting kept Connecticut in the game, and after Lewis missed two free throws with 6.1 seconds left the Huskies had another chance to tie or win. Brown rebounded the ball, dribbled the length of the court and pulled up for a three-point attempt.
"I thought that Denham's shot was going to go in; there was no doubt in my mind," said Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun, whose team had survived a scare against Washington Friday night by hitting a tying three-pointer at the regulation buzzer. "But it didn't."
And so the celebration began. Larranaga's wife, Liz, sprinted down to the court and kissed her husband. Their son Jon, a former George Mason player, walked around in a daze. "Are you kidding me?" he said. "Are you kidding me?"
Associate Athletic Director Jay Marsh, another former Patriot, hugged Campbell. Campbell pointed to Gunston, the school's mascot. Colonial Athletic Association Commissioner Tom Yeager began crying. He hugged Athletic Director Tom O'Connor. O'Connor hugged Skinn. O'Connor hugged university president Alan G. Merten.
Merten and his wife were scheduled to leave for a Florida vacation this week. After the game, he canceled those plans and prepared for another week of craziness.
"I'm into crazy," Merten said as players whooped and screamed. "Crazy is one of my favorite things."
