Philly Gym Rat (The Perry “QM” McMullin Story)

[PointGuard]

Point Guard:

Randy Durham: 23.5 mpg, 9.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 4.9 apg, 0.4 spg, 0.6 bpg, 2.3 A/TO

Darius Dunn: 10.8 mpg, 4.2 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 2.0 apg, 0.3 spg, 0.2 bpg, 1.3 A/TO

Michael Curry: 6.9 mpg, 2.5 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.1 spg, 0.0 bpg, 1.7 A/TO

Shooting Guard:

Jerell Brown: 30.7 mpg, 19.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.0 bpg, 1.0 A/TO

Marcus Evans: 24.9 mpg, 10.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.1 bpg, 0.7 A/TO

Alexander Forney: 4.9 mpg, 1.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.3 spg, 0.1 bpg, 1.0 A/TO

Small Forward:

Isaac Bryson: 16.8 mpg, 4.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.2 bpg, 1.1 A/TO

Ammer Self: 3.6 mpg, 0.6 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.1 apg, 0.1 spg, 0.0 bpg, 1.0 A/TO

Power Forward:

Ali Lyde: 27.6 mpg, 9.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, 0.9 spg, 0.4 bpg, 2.0 A/TO

Mitchell Jarmond: 7.4 mpg, 1.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.2 apg, 0.2 spg, 0.2 bpg, 0.8 A/TO

C.J. Galloway: 3.6 mpg, 0.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.1 apg, 0.0 spg, 0.0 bpg, 0.7 A/TO

Terrance Wiatre: 2.8 mpg, 0.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.2 apg, 0.1 spg, 0.0 bpg, 1.0 A/TO

Center:

Mark Saunders: 20.7 mpg, 5.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.9 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.5 bpg, 1.6 A/TO

Marcelle Pastner: 13.5 mpg, 4.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.0 apg, 0.6 sgp, 0.4 bpg, 1.9 A/TO

Josh Brown: 5.8 mpg, 1.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.2 apg, 0.2 spg, 0.0 bpg, 2.0 A/TO

[PointGuard]

HATE those games. We all have them, unfortunately.

Very true...sometimes you can try everything in the book (and outside the book) and nothing will ignite your team.

[PointGuard]

PPG: 72.8 (32nd); Opponents PPG: 60.5 (24th)

APG: 16.3 (16th); Opponents APG: 12.5 (12th)

RPG: 34.5 (34th); Opponents RPG: 31.1 (184th)

BPG: 2.8 (62nd); Opponents BPG: 2.1 (185th)

SPG: 6.6 (97th); Opponents SPG: 4.0 (2nd)

TPG: 11.4 (3rd); Opponents TPG: 16.5 (32nd)

Season record: 25-5; Home Record: 15-1; Away Record: 10-4

Rank: 19th; RPI: 27

[PointGuard]

1. Louisville (27-3)
2. Indiana (25-4)
3. Florida (24-3)
4. Duke (23-4)
5. Kentucky (22-8)
6. Kansas (22-5)
7. Arizona (23-5)
8. UNLV (24-4)
9. Notre Dame (22-7)
10. Georgia Tech (21-8)

[PointGuard]

Apparently there has been too much time off after our conference tournament while other conferences complete their tournaments. Mark Saunders and Marcelle Pastner got into a loud argument. I decided it wasn’t serious enough to take any action. Since this was the first occurrence, let them work it out between the two of them.

[PointGuard]

#1 seeds: Duke (26-4), Indiana (28-4), Florida (27-3), Louisville (29-4)

We’re #7 seed in the Syracuse Region and will play #10 seed Marshall (20-11). I’m pleased by this seed, and our players and fans are tremendously excited.

[Wayne23]

Well done, PG. It's great to win the conf. tourney. Hope you make some noise at the Dance.

[PointGuard]

Thanks, Wayne. Yeah, the team strengthened in the last 9 games. New Jersey Tech deserved to get into the NCAA Tournament also, but there was no way the committee would take 2 teams from this lowly conference.

[PointGuard]

New Jersey Tech is the 5th seed in the East Region and will play #4 seed Kent State.

Round 1:

East Regional: #5 seed New Jersey Tech (21-9) vs #4 seed Kent State (20-12): Kent State took an 11 point lead early in the 1st half, but New Jersey Tech fought back to close the gap to 36-35 at the break. The Highlanders came out in the 2nd half and simply defensively shut down Kent State building as much as a 21 point lead. New Jersey Tech hit 57% of their shots and out-rebounded Kent State 35-23. Adam McLean chipped in 16 points for New Jersey Tech and Seth Myers scored 14 for Kent State. Final Score: New Jersey Tech-76, Kent State-58.

Round 2:

East Regional: #5 seed New Jersey Tech (22-9) vs #1 seed Central Florida (17-12): New Jersey Tech held a small lead throughout the 1st half and went to the locker room with a 32-31 lead. As in their first NIT game, New Jersey Tech came out strong in the 2nd half, building a 17 point lead, hitting 48% of their shots. Matt Coata, Josh Crews, and Earl Cliff each scored 12 points to lead the Highlanders offensively. Demario Williams was top scorer for Central Florida with 18 points. Final Score: New Jersey Tech-76, Central Florida-62.

Round 3:

East Regional: #6 seed Mississippi Valley State (21-10) vs #5 seed New Jersey Tech (23-9): Mississippi Valley State took control in the first half and pulled away to a 43-36 lead at the break. New Jersey Tech gradually pulled even. The game was in contention between the two teams the entire 2nd half, but New Jersey Tech pulled out a slim victory at the end. Matt Coata scored 21 points for New Jersey Tech. Mississippi Valey State’s leading scorer was LaVell Rabey with 15 points. Final Score: New Jersey Tech-76, Mississippi Valley State-74.

Semifinal:

#7 seed Pennsylvania (19-11) vs #5 seed New Jersey Tech (24-9): New Jersey Tech pulled away to a 34-24 halftime advantage. They then had to hang on as Pennsylvania came back. Matt Coata again scored 21 points to lead New Jersey Tech. J.D. Gillens had a double-double (17 points and 10 rebounds) for Pennsylvania. Final Score: New Jersey Tech-67, Pennsylvania-64.

Championship:

#7 seed Binghamton (24-9) vs #5 seed New Jersey Tech (25-9): New Jersey Tech got control early in this game and left the floor at halftime with a 36-31 lead. They then played outstanding defense and ran away in the 2nd half to win the NIT Championship. Earl Cliff of New Jersey Tech led all scorers with 20 points. Keith Miller and Steve Mayes both scored 13 points for Binghamton. Final Score: New Jersey Tech-74, Binghamton-54.

It was very exciting to see a Great West Conference team play so well and cruise through the NIT to become champions!

I called the New Jersey Tech coach and congratulated him on a fantastic season.

[Side note: Interesting to see NJ Tech score 76 points in the each of the first 3 games, then invert the score in game 4 (67 points), then score 74 points (pretty close to 76) in the championship game.]

[PointGuard]

Vanderbilt-63, Vermont-55