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SIU 61, HC 51, final

A slow bleed.

Southern Illinois didn't win pretty, but they pretty much neutralized both dimensions of Holy Cross' game. They were persistent, they never fell asleep, and withstood Holy Cross' beating underneath. Most of the game they were only up 5, 6, 7 points, but it felt like 13 or 14 points at times. This is one hell of a team - even without a single star, this team should be able to make the Sweet 16. Easily.

Sadly it wasn't meant to be tonight. The shame is that Thomas and Simmons were shut down so thoroughly that they weren't really able to shine the way they had all year. Even when they did get open they seemed rattled and took bad shots. At the end, they were even missing foul shots. Game over.

In a way, it stinks playing another big mid-major team since it's dissatisfying whether you win or lose. I see now that you want to take down a former national champion or storied member of the SEC, not a small school with thoughts of the Sweet 16. Everyone loves to hate Duke. Nobody hates Southern Illinois. And I don't either.

Congratulations to Holy Cross. In a first round loaded with blowouts and overmatched teams, Holy Cross hung in there. No seed lower than 11 won in the first round, and Holy Cross comes out with the rest of the lower seeds.

P.S. When's spring football?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I give much congrats to HC. They played one hell of a defensive game against a team that clearly was more skilled. I give all my respect to HC's point guard. SIU was relentless defensively and he did one wonderful job against one of the best defensive teams in the nation and even did better than their PPG against average.
Every year, the Patriot League shows why they are to be reckoned with.
Now, if we could only get some of the other teams in the league involved.
How about a Lafayette/Lehigh final someday? How sweet would that be?
12:03 PM
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