Adelphi tops Post in NCAA playoffs

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Things weren't exactly going Norron McDonald's way entering crunch time Saturday.

With at little more than three minutes left, the Adelphi senior forward committed his fourth foul after getting beaten by Tobin Carberry's inside feed to Tyuan Williams, who converted the three-point play to give LIU Post a seven-point lead. And moments later, McDonald missed an easy layup.

Still, it didn't surprise Adelphi coach Dom Savino to see his team battle back and McDonald score the winning bucket on a putback with 1.8 seconds left to give the Panthers a 66-65 victory in an NCAA Division II East Regional quarterfinal at Assumption College's Laska Gymnasium.

"Norron and Richie Harkins [10 points, eight assists], our two seniors, just calmed us down," said Savino, whose team faces second-seeded Stonehill in a regional semifinal at 5 p.m. Sunday at Assumption. "They were running the show, they were in control and stepped up big-time, with Norron making that huge shot."

Adelphi (21-8) lost to Stonehill, 73-60, in a Northeast-10 quarterfinal Feb. 29, and also 55-54 on Jan. 25, both at home.

"We have to take our time and play together for 40 minutes," said McDonald, who had 12 points and six rebounds. "At this time, teams are at their best and capitalize on mistakes. The game goes much slower, and we have to be mentally tough to beat Stonehill."

After Carberry's layup gave sixth-seeded Post (23-6) a 65-58 lead with 2:25 left, the third-seeded Panthers shut down the Pioneers and started converting. Junior forward Brad Simpson (15 points, nine rebounds) nailed a deep three-pointer with 2:13 to play, and after empty possessions at both ends, junior guard Chris Ranglin (14 points, 11 boards) was fouled on his putback and made the free throw to bring Adelphi within 66-65 with 47 seconds left.

Post sophomore forward Vaughn Allen (18 points, 13 rebounds) scored 15 points in the second half, but McDonald rebounded Allen's miss with 17.5 seconds left and called timeout. After the inbounds pass, Ranglin missed inside, but McDonald was there.

"I just went and got it, and Brad was like, 'Norron, go up, go up,' '' McDonald said. "Coach is always telling me catch the ball, gather and just go up with all your strength, and that's all I did. I saw the opening and went up with everything I've got."

"What we needed was one or two more rebounds," Post coach Chris Casey said. "The games are going to be close, and the team that makes one more play is the team that moves on."

Williams and Carberry each scored 13 points for the Pioneers, who lost senior guard Stefan Bonneau (six points) after he injured his left knee with 5:18 left. Bonneau scored 29 points for Post in its 83-79 regular-season loss at Adelphi in December. The rivals are separated by only about 14 miles.

"Stef's our guy in the last five minutes, but our guys continued to make plays," Casey said. "We needed to hold them off, and we almost did. We get one or two more rebounds, we do hold them off."