Cvrkalj, Lehigh Ousted on Buzzer Beater

The Madness has officially started, as a few NCAA games in postseason tournaments (NCAA, NIT, CBI and CIT) came down to the wire.

Bluevale grad Stefan Cvrkalj's Lehigh Mountain Hawks came up on the short end of the first "buzzer beater" of the postseason, dropping a 67-66 game to Wyoming.

The 'Hawks took a 66-64 lead with only 5.8 seconds to go, only to see Wyoming race the length of the floor and knock home a three-pointer as time expired:



The next "CWOSSA alum" in action is Bucknell's Bryson Johnson in tomorrow's NCAA "second round"; the Bison (#11 seed) play #6 Butler at 12:40pm.

On tap for today in the NCAA are some intriguing play-in games, including Boise State vs. La Salle and Long Island vs. James Madison.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the LIU game myself as I've been a follower of the Blackbirds since their great (relatively speaking) teams in the late 90s.  How could you not (as a high-schooler) like a team that put up a ton of points, played at an up-tempo pace, and didn't play defense?

They still hold the NCAA record for margin of victory in a single game --- 117 points in a 179-62 win over Medgar Evers College. 

Charles Jones (who scored 30+ PPG that year) had a cup of coffee in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls and LA Clippers.  Here's a look at their 1997 NEC Championship team.....how about that gym they played in back then?  Almost reminds me of Bluevale CI the way there's no room on the endlines!  (Just kidding...):



Their team this year is certainly similar.  Out of the 347 NCAA teams, they rank 29th nationally in pace, 51st nationally in offensive efficiency, and 319th in defensive efficiency!