Peach Belt 20 in 20 - Game #9: NCAA Men's Basketball Region Final: GCSU vs. Columbus State, March 11, 2000.
In 1999, Georgia College & State University was one of three PBC teams to share the regular-season title, won the PBC Tournament and hosted the NCAA South Atlantic Regional. Everything was in place for the Bobcats to become the first team in PBC history to advance to the Elite Eight.
But they didn’t.
GCSU fell to Lander in the second round. For the 1999-2000, five starting seniors were back for the Bobcats who had something to prove and prove it they did, beating Columbus State 68-62 in the finals of the South Atlantic Regional. GCSU trailed by as many as 17 in the first half but held the Cougars to 20% shooting in the second half and 4-24 three-point shooting to come back and win. The victory launched GCSU to their first and, to date, only Elite Eight appearance.
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| The Bobcats celebrate after winning the 2000 NCAA South Atlantic Regional Championship. |
“Losing the previous year was devastating,” recalled head coach Terry Sellers. “Watching them cut down the nets – our nets – was really tough. We were so excited to be playing at home and we just didn’t play well. But that made our team more determined and really hungry and made us want to go back to a region tournament. We were a new team that year, mostly juniors, and we brought everyone back.”
“We had a lot of leaders on that team,” said Mike Jones, the regional MVP and now head coach at Arabia Mountain High School in Lithonia, Ga. “There were never any issues with egos, we looked after each other and respected each other. Coming back after the loss to Lander, we made a pact that we would do everything in our power to get back to that point. As soon as we were able to move back on campus (in the fall of 99) we got to our dorms, put down our stuff and started jogging around campus. Everyone was concerned about what was best for the team, not for themselves.”
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| Mike Jones was named the NCAA Regional Tournament Most Valuable Player. |
The regional was played in Wingate, N.C., in front of a sparse crowd who made the 200-mile drive from Milledgeville and 300-mile drive from Columbus. Those who were there saw the Cougars start a 15-0 run in the first half that made a 12-10 lead a 27-10 lead with under nine minutes to go, but the Bobcats were unfazed and began whittling that lead down to trail by only eight at halftime.
“I have to admit, I’m sitting on the bench and we’re down 17 and I’m thinking ‘here I am playing in a regional championship and we’re going to get beat by 50,’” said Sellers. “Columbus State was a very good, very dangerous team who could score points quickly and get you in the hole. But our guys hung tough and began chipping away at it.”
“We knew that we weren’t playing to the best of our abilities,” recalls Jones. “A lot of that had to do with Columbus State. They were making the plays and everything seemed to be going their way. But we had been together almost two full seasons and been through a lot. We kept our composure and nobody panicked. Pretty soon the tide began to turn and we realized that we were still around and still strong.”
CSU was back up by 10 early in the second half following free throws from Maulvi Lewis, but the Bobcats rattled off nine straight points, capped off by a layup from Earl Grant, that left the score 39-38 with 16:33 left.
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| Earl Grant scored 14 points in the region championship game. |
Columbus State, coached by the legendary Herbert Greene (who also coached Terry Sellers), regrouped and extended the lead to 46-39 with 13:10 to go on free throws from Travis Crutcher. GCSU responded again with an 11-3 run punctuated by a three-pointer from Grant with 9:03 left. The Bobcats took the lead on their next possession on a Mike Jones score and eventually expanded the margin to 60-52 on a three-pointer by Chris Nelson with 6:04 left.
But Columbus State wasn’t done. Mike Collier hit two free throws with 2:37 left that cut the lead to 62-60. CSU was still down two with 38 seconds left when a turnover in the front court gave the ball to GCSU. Julius Joseph calmly sank two free throws with 28 seconds on the clock for a four-point lead. Columbus State missed their next two three-point attempts while GCSU’s John Steensland hit the only two free throws he would attempt to provide the final score.
“I remember it’s a one-or-two point game and Earl (Jones) made a play where he saw he couldn’t get the shot off without getting blocked,” said Sellers. “So he adjusted and got fouled and went to the line. Maurice Smith made two of the biggest threes in the game. I thought we were going to run a play an that rascal pulled up and made a three! Two of them! They were probably the biggest shots of the game. I’m doing everything I can to set up a play, but players are the ones who do the job and make the plays.”
Columbus State hit 11 of their first 20 shots from the field, but went 10-for-45 the rest of the way including an 0-14 mark in three-pointers in the second half. GCSU had the opposite, shooting just 30% in the first half but boosting that to 43% in the second.
All five Cougar starters scored in double figures, led by 13 from Lewis, but the GCSU bench outscored the CSU reserves 31-5. Jones was named the region’s Most Valuable Player after scoring a game-high 22 for GCSU to go with 10 rebounds. Grant added 14 and Joseph 11.
“We all had tremendous confidence in each other, more than the average team,” said Jones. “There was never any hesitation on anyone’s part to pass up a shot to someone who could take a better shot. We all had better-than-average basketball IQs, so we knew where we were supposed to be. We also knew CSU. It doesn’t hurt that you’ve seen a team at least twice. We knew what to look for, but we had respect and confidence in how we prepared.”
GCSU fell in their first game of the Elite Eight to Seattle Pacific 77-65, but the accomplishments of that senior class resonate with the program to this day.
“I talk about that team all the time with our current players,” said Sellers. “Because we might have had more talented teams here, but that was a true team in terms of their makeup and their work ethic. They set the standard pretty high for how we want to be, to have that good team chemistry and work together at both ends of the floor. Those are qualities we want to instill in all our teams.”