Nov. 18, 2006
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PITTSBURGH (AP) - He was playing only his second college game, but Scott Grote couldn't think of a better Duquesne player to have on the foul line for two shots that were almost certain to decide the game.
Grote made his two free throws with 1.9 seconds left to finish with 18 points and undermanned Duquesne rallied to beat North Carolina-Asheville 77-76 Saturday night despite squandering a nine-point lead in the final two minutes.
Grote, a freshman and one of four first-year starters for a team depleted by the shootings of five players in September, sealed the victory by stealing the inbounds pass after he made his foul shots. He was 6-of-7 at the line after missing four attempts in the final minute of a season-opening victory over Youngstown State on Monday, when he was 8-of-15 from the line overall.
"I was in shock at that," said Grote, who has always been a good free throw shooter. "In that situation, I'd rather be on the line, but I'm sure everybody else on our team feels the same way."
Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said he was very confident with Grote at the line. Grote comes from a basketball family -- his father, Bob, is a former Wright State star and uncle Steve Grote starred at Michigan.
"This kid, he's a keeper," Everhart said. "We wanted to get the ball in his hands there, or in Aaron Jackson's driving to the rim."
Despite having only eight scholarship players, Duquesne is 2-0 -- only one victory short of matching last season's 3-24 record that was the worst in school history. They are 2-0 for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
Jackson, a sophomore and Duquesne's only holdover starter, had 15 points and 10 rebounds, with Robert Mitchell adding 13 points and eight rebounds. Reggie Jackson scored 11 and Phillip Fayne had 10 for the Dukes.
Aaron Jackson said last season's Duquesne team likely would have folded had it blown so big a lead so late in a game.
"We would have put our heads down and accepted another loss," he said. "Our coach (Ron Everhart) won't let us do that and we didn't."
Brett Warner, who at 6-foot-10 was four inches taller than any Duquesne starter, led UNC-Asheville (1-2) with 16 points. Sean Smith scored 14, Bryan Smithson had 13 and Reid Augst added 11.
The Dukes led 75-66 on Aaron Jackson's putback with 1:57 remaining, but turned the ball over three times to help the Bulldogs score 10 points in a row and take the lead at 76-75 on K.J. Garland's free throw with 28 seconds remaining. With time winding down, Grote was fouled attempting to get off a closely defended shot along the foul lane. He dropped the first one cleanly, but the second bounced high off the rim before going in.
"I knew it was going to be close when I let it go," he said. "But when it hit the rim, I knew it would go in."
The game was the first in Pennsylvania for UNC-Asheville, whose coach Eddie Biedenbach, is a Pittsburgh native. Despite their substantial height advantage, the Bulldogs outrebounded Duquesne only 33-29.
