Northwestern’s buzzer-beater beats Portland, 56-53

Submitted by Dave Geringer
Phone: (90&0 474-6807
11/19/04

The first round game between Northwestern and Portland at the 2004 BP Top of the World Classic Friday night was good to the last shot.

T.J. Parker’s third game-winning shot of his career, a three-pointer from the right wing, arched through the net as time expired to lift the Wildcats to a 56-53 victory over UP at the Carlson Center.

Marcus Lewis of the Pilots had hit a turn-around shot in the lane with 3.6 seconds remaining to tie the game. NU quickly pushed the ball up court, and Parker launched his game-winning shot.

A three-pointer by Verdan Vukusic of the Wildcats had tied the score at 50 with 3:03 remaining, after Portland had held the lead since the waning moments of the first half. Pooh Jeter hit one of two free throws with 36 seconds left to restore the Pilotsí¢ä‰åä‹¢ advantage, but Brandon Lee’s three-pointer with 19 seconds left erased Portland’s lead and gave NU a 53-51 advantage.

Northwestern built an early lead, and held a 27-19 advantage with 3:56 remaining in the first half. The Pilots switched from a man-to-man to a zone defense, took the lead and held it until NU tied the game late in the second half.

"Obviously, we were very fortunate to win," said Northwestern Head Coach Bill Carmody. "We didn’t play well. We made our last two shots, and I don’t think they were any easier than the shots we didn’t make earlier in the game. I didn’t think we got going until there were five minutes left in the game."

"What a way to open the season," said Portland Head Coach Michael Holton. "Both teams worked hard and played well enough to win. We put ourselves in position to win the basketball game, but you have to give Northwestern credit. They played like a veteran team down the stretch, and we sputtered."

The game was the first of the regular season for each team. The Pilots fell to 0-1, while Northwestern improved to 1-0. Northwestern will advance to a winner’s bracket game Saturday at 8 p.m. against the winner of the late game between New Mexico State and Western Michigan, while Portland will play the loser of the late game Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.