JONESBORO (11/29/07) ?
Adrian Banks launched a 17-foot jumper as time ran off the clock to lead Arkansas State to a 71-69 win over Tennessee-Martin Thursday night in the Convocation Center.
Banks got the ball with 13 seconds remaining, took a couple of steps to his left and let the jumper fly as the buzzer sounded. With no time on the clock, the basketball bounced once on the rim before dropping in for the final score.
“What can you say about Adrian Banks?” asked ASU Head Coach Dickey Nutt. “He played an awesome game. He's been battling that dislocated finger which is extremely painful. In fact, I'm proud of this team. They really gutted it out. This is fourth game in nine days.”
Banks ended the night with 22 points. But, it was teammate Shawn Morgan who stole the show. The sophomore from Memphis recorded the first double-double of his career with 12 points and 11 boards. He also added five assists, two blocked shots, and one steal.
“Shawn is the player of the game,” continued Nutt whose team stands 2-4. “He had an outstanding game. Sometimes, he will have five good plays and five bad plays so they cancel out to zero. Tonight, he made about a million good plays and very few bad ones. He really hung in there. He's all about the team.”
ASU started the game off a little sluggish with a couple of turnovers before Ifeayni Koggu put the Tribe on the board. ASU went on a scoring spurt before Skyhawk coach Bret Campbell called a timeout to regroup.UTM came back behind the scoring of guard Lester Hudson to within three to conclude the half trailing the Indians, 38-35. Banks led the tribe at halftime with 12 points and Hudson had 17.
Hudson led all scorers with 28 points and 11 rebounds and Marquis Weddle added 10 more for the Skyhawks.
ASU led by as many as 11 points before UTM began to slice into the margin. Hudson fired a three-pointer with 2:39 remaining to cut ASU's lead to three and came back a short time later to hit a layup to pull to within one, 67-66. ASU's Koggu answered with a layup at the 1:33 mark before Weddle responded with a game-tying three-pointer.
A missed jumper by Hudson gave Morgan the rebound. After a quick time out by ASU, Banks found the shot that sealed the victory.
ASU travels to Evanston, Ill., Sunday to take on Big 10 Conference foe Northwestern. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
?END?
