The Greatest Games in History PROVIDENCE 91 - CLEMSON 86 NIT Pre-tournament favorite Clemson had Mar. 15 seven-footer Tree Rollins and four min1975 utes of basketball when they held the younger Friars scoreless in the NIT. But behind the sharpshooting of Joey Hassett, the Friars came back to lead by 13 at the half. Bruce Campbell and Gary Bello controlled the second half, thwarting a late Tiger run and PC was in its first NIT final since the 1963 Championship. PROVIDENCE 82 - MICHIGAN 81 (2OT) One of the greatest games in c. Providence College basketball history. De9 2 Michigan was ranked Number One, 1976 had an Olympic Gold Medalist in Phil Hubbard and an All-American in Ricky Green. Bob Cooper blocked five shots in the first four minutes as the Friars hung tough but the Wolverines proved tougher as they went up seven in the second half. Bruce Campbell (25 points) and Joe Hassett (21 points) sparked a 14-4 run and the game went into an extra session. Bob Misevicius hit a jumper at the end of the first OT to send it into a second overtime. With time running out, Campbell threw a perfect pass to - who else Misevicius who banked in a 12-footer to give Providence its first upset of the number one team in the country. PROVIDENCE 61 - NORTH CAROLINA 59 This one was pure Dave Gavitt. The Feb. seventh-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels 12 1978 somehow got permission to land their plane at T.F. Green Airport which was closed due to the great blizzard of ‘78 which paralyzed the entire state. And even though the roads in Providence were closed, over 7000 fans walked to the Civic Center to see the Tar Heels battle the 20th ranked Friars on national TV. Carolina great Phil Ford and Mike O’Koren set up the four corners offense with 3:30 left and the Heels up 58-52. But PC rallied to tie on David Frye’s three-point play and later went ahead on a Billy Eason 12-footer with 21 seconds left. When Ford’s jumper rolled out, the Friars had a monumental upset. PROVIDENCE 84 - RHODE ISLAND 77 After twenty years when PC’s overall Feb. record was among the top five in the 17 country, the program experienced 1979 difficult times in Dave Gavitt’s final year as coach. A month earlier, Sly Williams and Rhode Island embarrassed the Friars 86-42 in the worst defeat of the modern era. It would take a miracle to beat the powerful Rams. The miracle came just before the half when Rudy Williams tossed in an NCAA record 89-foot shot. The momentum carried PC to a win in Gavitt’s last game in the Providence Civic Center. PROVIDENCE 82 - GEORGETOWN 79 Before Rick Pitino, PC was one of the Jan. doormats of the BIG EAST. Georgetown 28 1987 came to Providence with its usual lofty ranking and hot off a defeat of unbeaten DePaul. The Friars were 14-3 and had won five straight. And despite Reggie Williams’ 33 points, the Billy Donovan-David Kipfer-Delray Brooks led Friars hung tough enough and smart enough to
get the ball to Ernie “Pop” Lewis who hit the final three shots of the game - all three pointers. And when Lewis hit the gamewinner off a Donovan pass, PC had arrived in The BIG EAST. PROVIDENCE 90 - AUSTIN PEAY 87 (OT) NCAA Cinderella in black sneakers. The Friars Mar. were down ten with 5:50 left and play14 ing poorly. One timeout later, PC and 1987 Billy Donovan were on a tear, scoring 12 of the next 14 points, the last to tie it at 82 on a 20-footer by Donovan. When Austin Peay missed the front end of a one-and-one with two seconds left it was overtime and no doubt that Cinderella was on her way to the Ball. PROVIDENCE 87 at SYRACUSE 86 Twenty-one games over the 10 years of Jan. 20 BIG EAST play. That’s how long 1990 Syracuse had dominated Providence. Fifth-ranked Syracuse raced to a 10-point lead early before Carlton Screen brought the Friars to a tie at 32. Screen, who had 16 assists, Abdul Shamsid-Deen (12 points and 11 rebounds) and Eric Murdock (25 points) pushed the Friar lead to six in the second half with 10 minutes left. A furious Syracuse rally and Friar collapse gave the home team a seven point lead with three minutes left. But PC clawed back and when Murdock hit a jumper at the foul line with seconds left, PC had its first-ever defeat of Syracuse in BIG EAST play. PROVIDENCE 69 - CONNECTICUT 67 BIG EAST Tournament Mar. This one was as good as it gets. In a 12 nationally televised game, Connecticut 1994 came in ranked second nationally and virtually assured a Number 1 NCAA seed. Rob Phelps (10-11 field goals, 23 points) and the Friars had other plans. The scene was set seven games previously when the Friars had a 12-9 record and needed six straight to be assured an NCAA bid. After six consecutive wins, the bid assured, the Friars thumped Connecticut, with Dickey Simpkins (20 points) stopping Connecticut’s Player of the Year candidate, Donyell Marshall. It made the next day’s game against Georgetown anti-climatic but the win over the Hoyas gave PC its first-ever BIG EAST title. PROVIDENCE 81 - MARQUETTE 59 NCAA First Round Mar. The Friars hadn’t won an NCAA 4 1 Tournament game since 1987 and were 1997 0-for-4 in their most recent trips to the tournament. Austin Croshere took it upon himself to end that string as he scored 20 first half points, including a 75-foot buzzer beater to give PC a 50-32 halftime lead. In the second half the Friars tightened the clamps on the Golden Eagles holding Marquette to 27 points while Croshere finished with a career high 39 points in an 81-59 PC victory. Derrick Brown added 13 and Jamel Thomas had 11 as the Friars advanced in the tournament for the first time since 1987. PROVIDENCE 98 - DUKE 87 NCAA Second Round The second round of the NCAA tournament pitted the Friars against the legends. Derrick Brown was unstoppable
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with a career high 33 points in the 98-87 win. PC trailed 46-42 at the half, but with a quick, small lineup in the game, Gillen’s Gang put the pressure on. Duke’s guards couldn’t stop God Shammgod from penetrating as he scored 12 and dished off nine assists. Brown and Austin Croshere controlled the boards. Croshere added 21 points and Jamel Thomas had 17 to help send Providence to the Sweet 16. The win was the Friars’ first ever against Duke. PROVIDENCE 103 - GEORGETOWN 79 In the 22-year history of the BIG EAST Feb. Conference, nobody had ever pushed 10 2001 the mighty Hoyas of Georgetown around like this. No one had ever scored over 100 points against Georgetown in league play, and no one had ever defeated them by 24 points. But on a cold February evening, the Friars came out piping hot, and rained three pointer after three pointer on the stunned, 12th-ranked Hoyas. The Friars hit 9 of 12 threes in the first half (14 of 19 for the game) on the way to an incredible 61-35 halftime lead. The 61 points established a league record for most points in the first half at the time. Georgetown never got the lead below 22 points in the second half, as Karim Shabazz led six Friars in double figures, with 22 points and 11 rebounds. PROVIDENCE 66 - CONNECTICUT 56 The underdog Friars rolled into Hartford Jan. and upset fourth-ranked Connecticut, 24 66-56. For the Friars, it marked the 2004 first time ever that they defeated a top-four opponent on the road. With the win, the Friars earned their first victory at the Hartford Civic Center since January 19, 1991. The win also ended the Huskies’ 19-game winning streak at the Hartford Civic Center and was the eventual national champions only defeat at home in 200304. The Friars committed just six turnovers in the win. Waterbury, Connecticut native Ryan Gomes led the Friars with 26 points and 12 rebounds. In the second half, UConn took a 50-48 lead with 8:24 to play, but Sheiku Kabba quickly put the Friars ahead when he nailed the first of his two three pointers in a two-minute span. PROVIDENCE 81 - PITTSBURGH 73 It took 33 years, but for only the second Feb. time in Providence College basketball 24 2009 history, the Friars knocked off the number one ranked team in the nation, as PC hammered the Pitt Panthers, 81-73. Unlike the Michigan game, which was a backand-forth affair, PC took control early, building a 44-26 halftime lead before an emotional crowd on Senior Night. PC’s second half lead peaked at 20 points before Pitt narrowed the gap to 75-70 with under a minute left, behind a furious rush. Five free throws, three by Weyinmi Efejuku and two by Brian McKenzie, sealed the win, as fans stormed the court in a wild celebration. PC contained Pittsburgh’s star, DeJuan Blair, who eventually fouled out, while five Friars scored in double figures, led by Efejuku, with 16 points, Sharaud Curry with 15, Jonathan Kale with 13, Geoff McDermott with 11 and Randall Hanke with 10 points.
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