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Originally posted by Da Coach
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"Two of the top “mid-major” programs over the last 10 years met Saturday in
Northern Virginia, and the game between visiting Creighton and host George
Mason had several ties to Maryland. And it was one of the better games you
will see, at any level, with a controversial finish that helped give Mason the
victory.
Neither team could take a lead of more than four points through most of the
game. In the closing minute, Mason’s Cam Long drove to the basket with his
team trailing by two. A blocking foul was called with 18 seconds left on
Creighton senior Justin Carter, who played at Watkins Mill High in Montgomery
County. That drew a technical from Creighton coach Dana Altman.
The call appeared to be the right one, but the stunning thing was that a
referee would call a technical at such a critical point late in the game.
Altman was told to cool it a few times during the game by the referees.
Interestingly, the officiating crew was from the Missouri Valley Conference,
of which Creighton is a member.
I doubt referees from the Colonial Athletic Association, of which Mason is a
member, would have had the nerve to call the first technical on Altman at
such a juncture. One can only guess there might have been a history
between Altman and Saturday’s MVC crew. A few seconds after the
technical, Altman and a referee had a verbal war for several seconds with
their faces about six inches apart. It was pretty darn entertaining: Just
imagine Earl Weaver in a nice suit and several inches taller, and thinner, and
you get the picture.
You can probably guess what happened after the technical. Mason’s Luke
Hancock hit the two technical free throws and Long hit one of the two free
throws from the foul call to give Mason a 73-72 lead. A few seconds later,
Baltimore’s Louis Birdsong, the lone Mason senior, grabbed a loose ball and
passed to Hancock for a dunk in the closing seconds of a 75-72 win by the
Patriots. “At that point in the game you can’t call a technical like that,”
Carter told me after the game, while walking to the bus for a quick trip to
Reagan National Airport and a flight back to Omaha. “It was just a bad call, I
guess.”
Carter, since leaving Maryland, played at Compton Junior College and
Fullerton College in California. Last year, as a junior at Creighton, he became
the first player in more than 10 years to start every game in his first season
with the school in Nebraska. He averaged 8.1 points. This year he tore the
medial collateral ligament in his left knee Nov. 8 in an exhibition game and
that forced him to miss the first three regular-season games. He scored 21
points against nationally ranked Michigan in his first game Nov. 26. Carter
had 13 points Saturday while playing in front of family and friends. “It was
very special. They had not seen me in action for awhile,” he said. “I am
feeling good. I am getting back to my full potential every day.”
Carter realized the significance of the game between the long-distance
opponents. “It was a hard-fought game. We look at George Mason as a rival
game. Every time we play them it is an exciting game,” he said."
and CBSSports' Gary Parrish gives this play the "terrible officiating award"-
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