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Ramblers Give the Buffs a Scare

12/29/02
by John C. Thomas
In the final game of a nightmarish six game road trip, the Ramblers finally played like a team and gave Colorado all it could handle. Paul McMillan came off the bench and carried the Ramblers on his back, but it wasn't quite enough as Colorado beat the Ramblers 76-72 Sunday afternoon at the Pepsi Challenge in Charlotte, N.C.

Coach Farmer used his third different starting lineup in three days, sending David Bailey, Terrance Whiters, Kevin Clancy, Demetrius Williams and Corey Minnifield to center court for the tip. The defensive intensity of the starters was evident early, as the two teams were deadlocked 2-2 after four and a half minutes.

Demetrius Williams had a big blocked shot early in the game, but he picked up his second foul before five minutes elapsed and had to hit the pine. That's when Paul McMillan got off the bench and proceeded to outplay the Buffs' 7' NBA prospect David Harrison. McMillan had 12 points and six rebounds at halftime and DaJuan Gouard had five.

David Bailey's shooting woes continued, especially in the first half when he was scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting including three air balls. All things considered, the Ramblers were lucky to trail 30-23 at the half.

Bailey looked to come out of his funk early in the second half when he hit a lay-up and followed it with a three-pointer that cut the deficit to 36-30. However, Loyola went on another scoring drought while Colorado got hot from behind the arc. The Buffs opened up a 45-30 lead with 13 minutes remaining.

The Buffaloes have had problems playing with a big lead this year. And little by little, the Ramblers crept back into the game. Loyola closed the gap to 61-52 with 4:01 remaining, and then to 65-59 with 1:40 left. When Terrance Whiters hit a three with :38 left to play, the Buffs were clinging to a 71-68 lead and were forced to take their star player out of the game on offense because of poor free throw shooting.

Only 17 seconds later, Loyola was again within three points at 73-70. But the Buffs' Stephane Pelle made three of four free throws down the stretch as the clock ran out on the Ramblers.

McMillan finished with a game high 23 points and 11 rebounds. Minnifield and Bailey each added 13, and Whiters had eight, including two late three-pointers that made Colorado sweat. Blair Wilson's 17 points led the Buffs.

As feared before the start of the season, the Ramblers went 0-6 on their three week road trip. The loss leaves the Ramblers at 4-8 on the season. But the game against a very big and talented Colorado team was the bright spot of the trip and showed that the Ramblers do have the ability to play with just about anyone. The same effort in every game of the year would likely have had us returning home for New Year's Eve with a 9-3 record instead of 4-8.