Junior Seth Heinbaugh was 7-for-7 from the free throw line and led the Grizzlies with 19 points and seven rebounds.Grizzlies spoil Porter's bid for 500 in RMAC-opener
December 4, 2009ASC claims first win in Regis Fieldhouse in Division II history
DENVER— Junior Seth Heinbaugh (Prescott Valley, Ariz.) scored 19 points while grabbing a game-high seven rebounds as the Adams State College Grizzlies spoiled one of the greatest alum’s first shot at picking up his 500th career coaching victory with a convincing 76-64 road win over the Regis University Rangers in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener for both teams, Friday night here in the Regis Fieldhouse.
The Grizzlies, who snapped a 3-game overall slide with the win, their first road win over the Lonnie Porter coached Rangers in their NCAA Division II (1992-93/Present) history, also got double-figure efforts from sophomore Robby Hanzlik (Denver, Colo.) and senior Xavier Lewis (San Jose, Calif.). Hanzlik, out for much of the week with an ankle injury, scored 14 points while Lewis tallied 10 as the now 3-3 Grizzlies overcame an early 20-9 deficit to lead by six (41-35) at the half before breaking open a tight game with a 11-1 run in the second half to build a 68-57 lead en-route to the win.
The Rangers, who were trying to give Porter, an ASC and RMAC Hall of Famer, his historic win, fell to 2-1 on the year despite a fine 20-point effort from Jordan Martinez-Doublin.
Porter, the winningest coach in Colorado collegiate history, would have been proud of the Rangers start as they used a 13-2 spurt to break a 7-7 deadlock.
However, the Grizzlies would score on five of their next seven possessions as they suddenly pulled back within four before eventually tying the game at 24 on two Heinbaugh free throws with 8:04 to go in the first half.
“Once we figured we could score down low all day, we just kept at it,” Heinbaugh said in a post-game radio interview after leading the Grizzlies to a 38-28 edge in points in the paint.
Heinbaugh finished the game hitting six of eight shots from the field and was also perfect from the free throw line on seven attempts all while leading all players in rebounding. He also had a game-high five offensive caroms.
Later in the half, Heinbaugh aided an 11-1 run that allowed the Grizzlies to build a 41-31 lead before the Rangers closed the gap to six points with the final four points of the first half.
The Rangers continued to narrow the deficit and even took a slight 46-44 lead with a 11-3 run to begin the second half before a Hanzlik bucket tied the game moments later.
After the Rangers went back up 48-46, Hanzlik then nailed a key 3-pointer that gave the Grizzlies the lead for good with 15:15 to go.
Up by just one at that point and holding that same and slightest of lead more than five minutes later, the Grizzlies then used a 3-point play by Heinbaugh and a long-distance call by Forrest Becker (Albuquerque, N.M.) to trigger the game-sealing run, highlighted by a later Lewis trey with 6:09 left.
“We came into this game thinking we were 0-0,” Heinbaugh said about the snapping of the slide and the beginning of conference play.
“This is when it really matters. We really wanted this. This is huge for our team as we start conference,” he continued about the win that snapped what was a 13-game conference losing streak that the Grizzlies suffered through during last year’s 4-23 (1-18 RMAC) season.
Although the Grizzlies delayed Porter’s historic win for at least one night, third-year coach Mark Murdock was complimentary of his 33rd-year counterpart, who still contributes to the Grizzlies’ scholarship fund, and the opposition.
“Coach Porter is a class act. He’s a great coach and his kids are tough.”
The Grizzlies who had not defeated the Rangers since Dec. 10, 2005 shot 48.2 percent (27-56) from the field throughout but committed 19 turnovers. However, only five of those turnovers came in the second half as the Grizzlies held the Rangers, the RMAC’s top 3-point shooting team at 53.7 percent, to just two total 3-pointers and a 22.2 percent (2-9) effort from beyond the arc.
The Grizzlies will have little time to rest as they will take on nationally-ranked Metro State in a Saturday afternoon contest at the nearby Auraria Events Center. The Roadrunners, ranked 17th in this week’s National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II Coaches’ Poll, came into a Friday night encounter with Fort Lewis with a 3-1 overall record.
Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. and can be heard live on KSPK-FM (104.1 in Alamosa) and via the internet at www.kspk.com.
