March 16, 2005

Shooting Woes Keys First Round Upset For UM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After finishing in the NAIA's Fab Four in 2004, the Rams attempted to accomplish something they had never done before: win a first-round game shooting 36 percent from the floor. A season that showed all the promise of another run to the national semifinals came to a crashing halt as the Rams (30-6) lost to the Oklahoma City University Stars (20-11) 77-74 in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament held at Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City.

Despite poor shooting, the Rams nearly pulled off the impossible as they out-rebounded the Stars 59-38, and held an 87-63 hustle points advantage by game's end. Insurmountable however were disappointing outings by UM leading scorer Tramaine Perry (6-of-22) and Larry Burgess (5-of-16 including 3-of-12 from behind the arc). It was a fate that didn't seem to be in the cards until the
second half.

"They did a great job of packing it in down low," Rams Head Coach Joe Niland said. "That combined with our inability to shoot the ball was the obvious difference. But I don't want to take anything away from Oklahoma City, they came out and performed."

The Rams opened with an 8-2 run before Oklahoma City decided to call for timeout with 16:57 remaining. Another 4-1 run by Mobile and another timeout by the Stars with 15:39 to go in the first half and the game seemed to have all the makings of an easy first round win.

"We felt like Mobile would wear us down and we don't have as deep a bench," Stars Head Coach Win Case said. "We wanted to come out and control the tempo, especially toward the end. We went to a zone because they are very good man-to-man."

With 9:24 to go in the half the Stars made a move as a Drago Pavlovic bucket sparked a 6-0 run that forced the Rams to call for timeout at the 6:29 mark. Mobile fired back however with a 9-3 run that saw Mobile take their biggest lead of the game, 39-29, with just over a minute to go. The Stars scored seven
unanswered points however in the final minute to enter the half down only 39-36.

The Stars picked up where they left off as Pavlovic once again sparked a 6-0 run as Oklahoma City took a 42-39 lead. Another 4-1 run midway through the second half saw the Stars equal the Rams' biggest lead of the game as they held a 61-51 advantage with just over nine minutes on the clock.

Mobile however caught one last final wind.

A Tramaine Perry bucket with under nine minutes to go started a 14-4 Mobile run that was capped off with back-to-back baskets by Gabe Feagin which tied the score 65-65. But that was the last time Mobile would see any light at the end of the Municipal Auditorium tunnel as the Stars outscored their opponent 12-9 down the stretch.

"I don't believe in revenge, but it was definitely on our minds from last year," Coach Case said in reference to last year's 75-62 second loss.

The Stars' Dawud Drew scored 21 points to lead all scorers. Oklahoma City also got double-digit contributions from Ricky Coleman (14), Drago Pavlovic (13) and Larry Franklin, who finished with 10.

The Rams were led by Gabe Feagin's 18 points with Tramaine Perry chipping in 17. Gimel Lewis and Larry Burgess each added 13.

Mobile will garnish many new faces next season as they say goodbye to seniors Tramaine Perry, Larry Burgess, Gabe Feagin, Gimel Lewis and Albert Sullivan. Perry walks away as the Rams all-time leading scorer and rebounder with Lewis as the all-time shot-blocker.

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