Harris lifts MInutemen to postseason
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AMHERST - Ricky Harris could not have written a better ending to his final game at the Mullins Center.
The University of Massachusetts senior guard's driving floater was the game-winning basket with 3.5 seconds left as the Minutemen upset Rhode Island 69-67 Saturday at the Mullins Center to earn the No. 11 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
"Making a shot like that if front of your home crowd on senior night - that's big," Harris said. "Somewhere in my 22 years I thought about a moment like this playing in my back yard. It's like a dream come true. I'm still stunned. This is a great feeling."
Kellogg echoed his player's joy.
"I don't think you could ask for a better ending for Ricky and the way he's been as a player and as an ambassador for the program to end his home college career," Kellogg said. "From the bottom of my heart I wanted to win for Ricky. He's been a rock and a foundation for me this year with these guys."
The Minutemen entered the game needing either a win or a Saint Joseph's loss to La Salle to get into the 12-team conference tournament.
To avoid distractions, UMass instructed public address announcer George Miller to forgo his usual practice of announcing out-of-town scores.
The Minutemen went into the game with the mind-set that they needed to win, and as it turned out they did because the Hawks defeated the Explorers 74-59.
UMass (11-19, 5-11 A-10) will play at No. 6 Charlotte (19-11, 9-7 A-10) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The Rams (21-8, 9-7 A-10) are the No. 5 seed and will host No. 12 Saint Joseph's (11-19, 5-11 A-10) also at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
"This game was do or die. It would have sent us home if we hadn't gotten the win," Harris said. "We weren't praying that St. Joe's lost. We felt it was win or go home."
For a while that win seemed like a long shot as the Minutemen trailed for most of the game. With 11:41 remaining, Rhode Island forward Lamonte Ulmer stole a Sean Carter pass in the backcourt and laid the ball in to put the Rams up 49-40 as the crowd of 5,527 seemed to groan.
But freshman Javorn Farrell hit a leaner that started a 12-1 UMass run. In that surge, Harris hit a 3-pointer that tied the game at 50-50 and pushed him past Lou Roe into third place on the school's career scoring list.
Moments later Sampson Carter snared an offensive rebound off a Harris miss and was fouled. Carter's two free throws were his first points of the game and put the Minutemen ahead 52-50 for their first lead since 4-2.
Rhode Island briefly regained control with five straight points, but Farrell, who matched his career high with 12 points, answered with a 3-point play to tie the game 55-55 with five minutes left.
The teams traded leads until the final minute. Harris, who struggled from the free-throw line (6-of-11) hit two with 1:09 remaining.
At the other end, Farrell poked the ball out of Will Martell's hands, dove to try to control it but was called for a foul. Marquis Jones (15 points, six assists) hit both free throws to tie the game 67-67 with 37 seconds left.
After a UMass time-out, Gary Correia dribbled outside the 3-point line to run time off the clock. With about 11 seconds left, he handed the ball to Harris, who drove into the lane and lofted the floater that fell through with 3.5 seconds left.
After one time-out by the Minutemen and two by the Rams, they tried to get the ball to freshman sharpshooter Akeem Richmond, but he could not get open. So Jones rushed the ball up the floor and his shot from two steps behind the 3-point line was off the mark as time expired.
"Our guys hung in there and fought until the end and made some big plays," Kellogg said. "The games we've won this year we came up with those kinds of plays. I thought we put up a good effort tonight."
Harris, who finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists, threw his hands in the air and shouted with delight as his teammates mobbed him.
"I was just happy that we got this win for Rick," Farrell said. "He put us all on his back today. That was a storybook ending. Him getting the game-winning shot on senior night. That was perfect."
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/blog/umass-sports.
