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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1999)
Sports Hamilton does By Christopher Heine Staff writer The Missouri men’s basketball team proba bly thought it was on to something. The Tigers had cut Nebraska’s second-half, 15-point lead down to 60-58 with two minutes and 28 seconds to play. But the crowd of 11,449 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center had seen its Comhuskers answer a Tiger comeback run just minutes before. And, in the end, NU answered the final Tiger challenge just as they responded to the other ones that afternoon - with Venson Hamilton. Following Husker forward’s Larry Florence put-back basket with 1:16 left in the game, Hamilton grabbed two of his game-leading 11 rebounds in the final minute to seal the win. But it wasn’t as if the 6-10 center didn’t try to put the Tigers to rest earlier. At one point in the second half, Hamilton ran off a series of plays Nebraska 69 ^could have ended . Missouri’s chances Missouri 61 for good. The Husker center started by slipping by MU’s Monte Hardge with a slam dunk, 3-point play with 5:21 left to give Nebraska a 58-51 lead. Hamilton then beat the 6-11, 335-pound Hardge again on the next possession by hitting a 16-footer from just above the free-throw line. Within seconds, he swatted away Tiger for ward Albert White’s driving jump shot in the lane to give his Huskers the ball back. The senior cen ter from Forest City, N.C., then grabbed a rebound following two Missouri missed shots with 3:30 left. Hamilton said NU Assistant Coach Jimmy Williams encouraged him just before the flurry of activity. “Coach Williams told me it was time to take the game over,” Hamilton said. “And I did. We needed key shots and I was willing to take them.” And just in the nick of time. MU guards Brian Grawer and Clarence Gilbert had been giv ing Hamilton and NU something to think about with a two-man, second-half comeback. Grawer contributed 9 of his team-leading 18 points by sinking three 3-pointers during the game’s final half. Gilbert gave Nebraska guards a headache by stripping them with five steals that led to four layups. The Huskers looked to be in trouble of letting an all-important, in-conference, home victory get away.*But ultimately, NU always had Hamilton to fight the Tigers off. “Venson threw us all on his back,” said NU forward Andy Markowski. “He said, ‘I believe I’m the best player in the league. And I’m going to help us win this game.’” Hamilton led the Huskers in four major cate gories other than rebounding: he had 16 points, six assists, three blocked shots and played a team-high 36 minutes. Most importantly, the center responded with determination and com posure after the Tigers began threatening NU’s second-half lead. “The big fella is playing,” said NU Coach Danny Nee. “You’ve got to give him respect. He did everything except sell popcorn.” Nebraska gymnasts sweep rival Sooners By John Gaskins Staff writer There were two things the Nebraska men’s and women’s gymnastics teams shared in com mon Friday night: they were both ecstatic to be enjoying the home cookin’ at the Bob Devaney Sports Center for the first time this year, and they both scored big victories over arch-rival Oklahoma. The similarities end there. While the No. 13 women coolly defeated the No. 11 Sooners 194.35 193.075, leading wire to wire and winning every event, the No. 9 men need ed dramatics and a stroke of good fortune from No. 6 OU to come from behind; 227.075-224.175. On the horizontal bars, all six Sooners fell on their landings. Nebraska capitalized, as it fol lowed OU in the event with clutch performances from Hardabura (9.85) and freshman Martin Fournier (9.50) to finish off Oklahoma. > Allen said he was not at all sad to see OU stumble and open the door for his team. To come back and win , ____ Matt Miller/DN like that was a huge boost LAURA OHLENDORF SMILES to the crowd during her floor routine Friday for all of US,” said night at the Devaney Center. Ohlendorf earned a 9.75, helping the Nebraska sophomore Huskers to a 194.35-193.075 dual win over the 11“‘-ranked Sooners. j ason mraaoura, wno won - the all-around with a NU season-best 57.025. “It’s one thing to be ahead four points and coast home, but to be behind in front of your home fans and win like that was huge.” The Sooner men won the first three events and took a commanding .5-point lead going into the final two events, but then they fell to the ground - literally. “I’ll take a win any way it comes ” Allen said. “Besides, the flip side of that was we came after that and hit our routines.” Oklahoma looked as though it was going to avenge its .10-point setback to the Huskers two weeks ago at the Rocky Mountain Open. Worse Please see GYM on 11 Matt Miller/DN NITS BLAKE BUKACEK REACHES for the parallel bars during his routine. The Huskers beat the Sooners 227.075-224.175 Friday night at the Oevaney Center. Schwartz leads Huskers to narrow win By Jay Saunders Staff writer Brooke Schwartz couldn’t have asked for anything more. With 17 seconds left in the Nebraska women’s basketball teams game against No. 15 Iowa State, the Comhuskers were up by one point The Cyclones inbounded the ball, and Schwartz found herself defending ISU guard Stacy Frese, one of the premier players in the Big 12 Conference. “I was guarding (Iowa State guard Megan) Taylor and we switched,” Schwartz said. “It just so happened I was on (Frese) and I loved it” Frese missed a desperation lay-up and the Huskers won 68-67. “We wanted something going towards the basket,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “Stacy made a good move to the goal but it just didn’t go in.” Iowa State (16-4 overall and 8-2 in the Big 12 Confer-ence) clawed its way back into the game after trailing 58-50 with 10:33 remaining. The Cyclones led 63-62 when Taylor made two free throws. But the NU defense buckled down in the last 5:12, allowing Iowa State only one more field goal. “We won it with defense,” NU senior Cori McDill said. “We played our game—physical and hard-nosed defense.” Frese, who went 8-for-9 from the field when the two teams played ten days ago in Ames, shot only 6-for-l 1 Sunday. The Huskers (16-7 and 5 5) forced 17 Nebraska 68 turnovers and a . __ grabbed 20 defen lowa State 67 sive rebounds. But the defense almost went for naught because of three mis takes in the last three minutes. A stolen inbounds pass with 2:53 left did not lead to any Cyclone points. With less than one minute left, point guard Nicole Kubik, an 80 per cent free throw shooter, missed two consecutive free throws. “(Kubik) is human too,” Schwartz said. “We knew Nicole was struggling and we had to step it M up. Schwartz was one of those players, leading all scorers with 20 points. Two consecutive 3 pointers gave the Huskers an eight-point lead in a We played our game - physical and hard-nosed defense Cori McDill NU senior the second half. NU also received help on offense from die inside. The post players combined for 25 points. “Our game plan was we were going to make them double-down,” NU Coach Paul Sanderford said. “They did that in the second half and Brooke Schwartz was open.” * A Big 12 Conference record crowd of 13,135 packed the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The fans got their monfy’s worth and also received the admiration of coaches and players from both sides. “It was a perfect situation,” McDill said. “It is what you dream of when you are 14 years old shooting in the driveway.” NU tennis teams lose to Iowa, Rice From staff reports The No. 70 Nebraska men’s tennis team split two meets over the weekend in Texas. NU (1-2) offset a 6-1 loss at the hands of Rice (3 0) on Saturday by defeating Lamar University in a 7-0 rout on Sunday. Against due Owls, the Huskers won all si* single matches in straight sets. Winners on the day include No. 1 Dinko Verzi, No. 2 Lance Mills, No. 3 Joige Abos Sanchez, No. 4 Kai Rieke, No. 5 Andrew Wiese, and No. 6 Juan Hamdan.AH three doubles teams also won. The team suffered a major Wow against Rice when senior Joakim Larsson tore his anterior cruciate liga ment He is expected to miss the rest of the seasoa The Nebraska women’s tennis team ran intoabuz zsaw Saturday in Iowa City, Iowa. Falling behind the 61 ^-ranked Hawkeyes 3-0 after the doubles matches, NU never recovered as it was routed 9-0. No Comhusker singles players won a set. With the loss, NU dropped to 1-1 on the season. Iowa improved to 3-0.
