March 11, 1999
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SEATTLE (AP) - Stanford flirted with going from Final Four to first-roundflop in a single season. Then free throws saved the day.
The second-seeded Cardinal made 10 of 11 foul shots during a late spurt thatcarried them to a 69-57 victory over pesky Alcorn State in the first round ofthe NCAA West Regional on Thursday.
Alcorn State had rallied from 14 points down at halftime to tie it at 55,but Stanford's Arthur Lee said his veteran team - which starts four seniors anda junior - was never rattled.
"We've been here before," Lee said. "Granted, we're going to makemistakes. But when it comes down to it, the vast majority of the time, we'll dosomething to pull it out."
The Pac-10 champions, who finished 23-of-26 from the line, outscored theBraves 14-2 run over the final four minutes.
Mark Madsen, who led the Cardinal with 23 points on 7-for-10 shooting andgrabbed 13 rebounds, scored five during the late run, including a three-pointplay to cap an 8-0 spurt that put Stanford up 63-55 with 1:53 to play.
A 56 percent free throw shooter for the season, Madsen was 9-for-9 from theline. The last time he did that?
"I was a freshman in high school," he said.
Lee, who added 13 points, made all six of his free throws in the last 2:38.That wasn't surprising since he is an 88 percent shooter from the line.
"If you have the ball in Arthur's hands at the end of the game, you're inpretty good shape," Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said.
Peter Sauer scored 12 points for the Cardinal but only one in the secondhalf.
Montgomery and his players said the game reminded them of last year'sfirst-round game against College of Charleston, when the Cardinal led early,then went stale before pulling it out at the end.
"We got a little tentative," Montgomery said.
Stanford likes to play rough and pushed around the Braves like a schoolyardbully. Alcorn State (23-7), a Mississippi school of about 3,000 making itsfirst NCAA appearance in 15 years, fell behind 21-6 and trailed 40-26 at thehalf.
"We played soft and we were taking some ill-advised shots," said AlcornState's coach of 23 years, Davey Whitney.
Whitney got on his team at halftime, and they responded.
"They're bigger and taller, but that doesn't matter," Terrance Cameronsaid. "We think we can play with anybody. We didn't consider ourselves theunderdogs."
But the Braves, a big favorite with the Key Arena crowd, stormed back behindWallace Harris, who scored 10 of his 17 in the second half.
Alcorn State, trying to become just the fourth No. 15 seed to win atournament game, outscored the Cardinal 27-13 to pull even at 53-53 onCameron's 3-pointer with 4:47 left.
Stanford committed a dozen turnovers and made just five field goals duringthat stretch. But the Cardinal's free throw shooting made the difference.
"I don't think it was as much their pressure as it was that we made somelazy passes and lost our concentration," Montgomery said.
The Braves' point guard Rueben Stiff fouled out with 4:30 to play.
"That hurt us because he's our senior leader," Harris said. "He playedsome real good defense but he just had too many fouls and it caught up withhim."
Madsen made the two free throws after Stiff's final foul to put Stanford up55-53. Karl Jones' 15-foot jumper tied it one last time at 55 with 4:05remaining.
Kris Weems, who was just 2-for-10 from the field, scored to give Stanfordthe lead for good 57-55 with 3:50 to go. Sauer made one of two free throws, Leehit two from the line and Madsen converted the three-point play to finally putthe game away.
Neither team shot well. Alcorn State hit 36 percent from the field and wasonly 6-for-27 from 3-point range. Stanford shot 43 percent and was 4-for-14from 3-point range.
Tim Young added 10 points and nine rebounds for Stanford. Marcus Flemingscored 10 for Alcorn State.
By BOB BAUM
AP Sports Writer