Niagara earns date with KU

By Joe Kay - Associated Press Sports Writer     Mar 14, 2007

Niagara's Clif Brown, left, shoots over Florida A&M's Darius Glover. Brown scored 32 points, and Niagara won the NCAA play-in game, 77-69, on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio.

? Clif Brown’s career night made the NCAA play-in game feel less like a consolation prize. For Niagara, it felt like history.

The senior forward with the gentle touch scored 32 points and made a career-high six three-pointers Tuesday night, leading the Purple Eagles to a 77-69 victory over Florida A&M in the play-in game.

Niagara (23-11) hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 1970. Even though this one fell under the heading of play-in, it felt like a breakthrough.

“Our first NCAA Tournament win in 37 years,” coach Joe Mihalich said. “It’s a little mark in the history book. No asterisk, as far as I’m concerned.”

It was a start. The Purple Eagles will head to Chicago for a game Friday against Kansas, the top seed in the West Regional. No play-in winner has gone on to knock off a No. 1 team. In fact, no 16 seed has beaten a No. 1.

“We just look for the next task, keep moving, keep making history,” said forward J.R. Duffey, who had six points.

Florida A&M (21-14) didn’t bring a pep band or cheerleaders, and didn’t have a way to stop Brown, who scored 24 points while the Purple Eagles pulled away in the second half.

His big game – one shy of his career high for points – made up for Charron Fisher’s rough night. Niagara’s leading scorer spent much of the second half on the bench in foul trouble.

“Our team never knows who’s going to be the guy,” said Brown, who finished 10-of-18 from the field and 6-of-11 from behind the arc. “I hit a few shots in the first half and I was still feeling pretty good, so I took a few more and it turned out good.”

The Rattlers couldn’t even rally after Brown helped them by accidentally tipping a rebound into their basket.

Of the upcoming KU game, Brown said: “We play together. Anything can happen. Let’s just play and get it done.”

“What Clif did tonight was exceptional,” Mihalich said. “There’s always a chance he can do that.”

Fisher, known for his role in the attack of a Niagara baseball player last year, had 13 points. Darius Glover had 15 for Florida A&M, which went only 4-of-17 from behind the arc.

Neither team particularly wanted to be here. Leading up to selection Sunday, Florida A&M coach Mike Gillespie lobbied for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champs to avoid the play-in game. Instead, he wound up booking arrangements to Dayton for the second time in four years.

Afterward, he lobbied for change. “Let the last two at-large teams come to this game,” Gillespie said. “We won our tournament. We didn’t finish second or third. We didn’t lose in the first round. All the games we won, the tournament we won, and we still had to come here.”

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