United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Men's Basketball

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—(3/2/07)—Kinsey Durgin and Tirell Hill hit back-to-back 3-pointers with under three minutes left and Cameron Stewart made one of two free throws with 13.8 seconds left leading #21 Rhode Island College to a 64-60 win over Coast Guard in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament.

Coast Guard which finished in last place in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) and then enjoyed a magical ride winning the school's first ever NEWMAC tournament finish the season 14-14.

Eric Hudson buried a baseline jumper with 9:25 left to give Coast Guard its largest lead of the night at 49-41, but the Bears were held to just one field goal the rest of the way.

Durgin buried a 3-pointer off an inbound play with 2:47 left giving RIC a 58-56 lead after Steve Blum made one of two free throws giving the Bears a 56-55 lead with 3:31 remaining. Hill’s 3-pointer with 1:49 gave RIC a 61-56 lead.

Coast Guard came out strong to start the second half outscoring RIC 10-2 with Al Sowers accounting for the first five of those 10 points and the Bears led 42-36 with 14:18 left.

RIC (25-3)scored five straight to make it a 42-41 game before the Bears ran off seven straight capped by an Eric Hudson baseline jumper for their largest lead of the game, 49-41, with 9:23 remaining.

The Anchormen quickly responded with a 10-2 run with Durgin burying a 3-pointer with 6:49 left to tie the score at 51-51.

In the early going, Grant Johnson hit a 3-pointer followed by a driving lay up to give the Bears a 7-3 lead, but RIC responded with a 9-2 spurt to take a 12-9 lead with 14:26 left in the first half.

Coast Guard used a 9-0 run to take a 22-17 lead with 9:13 left in the first half.

Hudson knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers as Coast Guard took its largest lead of the first half 28-21 with 5:25 left. RIC answered with a 12-2 spurt on four 3-pointers to take a 33-30 lead with 1:40 left in the first half. The Anchormen, who were 7 for 19 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes, led 34-32 at halftime behind 14 points and nine rebounds from Bobby Bailey. Johnson led the Bears with 10 points.

Coast Guard and Rhode Island College were making their first appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament since 1979. Ironically, both teams played each other 28 years ago to the day with the Bears beating the Anchormen 76-71 in the consolation round of the tournament.

RIC beat Coast Guard 76-71 during the regular season and 70-68 in overtime in the first round of the ECAC New England tournament last year.

RIC advances to take on Brandeis a 77-70 winner over Trinity in overtime in the other first round game at Rhode Island College. The second round game is set for 7 p.m.

Johnson, Hudson and Jeff Prebeck each had 13 points to lead Coast Guard while Johnson had a career-high 10 rebounds.

Prebeck led Coast Guard with 11 rebounds and finished the season with a single-season school record 344 rebounds.

Johnson finished the season with a single-season school record 83 three-pointers.

Durgin had 15 of his game-high 18 points in the second half while Bailey had 14 of his 16 points in the first half. Bailey had a game-high 13 rebounds for RIC.