Barton Believes In Miracles
Anthony Atkinson Steals national championship from Winona State
March 24, 2007
Watch The Final 30 Seconds of The Division II Championship
By Christopher Granozio
Special to CSTV.com
It's the only word that accurately describes the fashion in which the Barton dramatically captured the 2006-07 Division II national championship.
Senior guard Anthony Atkinson delivered the winning basket at the buzzer, capping a scintillating comeback as the Bulldogs upset No. 1 ranked, and defending champion,
For the third time in four days, Atkinson closed a game with the winning points, capping a 10-1 run over the final 45 seconds to lift the Bulldogs to their 21st consecutive victory. Winona State - which had rallied to nip Barton in overtime during last year's national quarterfinals here in Springfield - had led most of the game, building as much as a 14-point bulge late in the opening half before taking a 41-31 advantage into the locker room.
"We are so blessed to be sitting here as national champions," Barton head coach Ron Lievense said, comparing
Atkinson scored his team's final 10 points in the last 39 seconds, including the dramatic, uncontested lay-up with one-tenth of a second left after a mid-court steal by sophomore guard Bobby Buffaloe.
"I had an angle on the clock," Atkinson said. "It was at 2.1, which was plenty of time for me to get close to the basket, and it went in.... I'm overwhelmed with joy."
The 5-foot-10 playmaker had already buried a game-winning 3-ponter at the buzzer in Wednesday's quarterfinals vs. Grand Valley State (Barton's NCAA-record ninth overtime win), then followed it up with the deciding free throw with 1.5 ticks left the next day vs. Cal State San Bernardino, setting up Saturday's heroics.
"It's never over," Atkinson added. "They (
The All-American finished with a game-high 29 points and averaged nearly 28 points per game in the Elite Eight while playing all 125 minutes. Senior forward Mark Friscone recorded 14 points for the victors, who also landed reserve freshman L.J. Dunn in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds as Barton overcame the second largest halftime deficit ever to win a title game.
Trailing, 74-67 with 45 seconds left on the clock, Atkinson began the unlikely comeback with a driving lay-up in traffic. After a missed one-and-one opportunity by senior guard Zach Malvik, Atkinson buried a jumper in the lane to make it a three point game, then was fouled converting a lay-up following a steal of the inbounds pass by sophomore guard Errol Frails. Atkinson missed the chance to tie at the line with 23 seconds remaining, but after senior forward Jonte Flowers (13 points, career-high 12 rebounds) split a pair at the stripe, the NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player connected on a reverse lay-up to tie the score with 11 seconds left, setting up the steal and winning hoop.
"It all happened so fast," Winona State junior center John Smith, the national Player of the Year, said after absorbing his team's first loss in 58 games dating back to last season. "There were definitely mistakes made on our part... but all good things come to an end."
Smith was held in check with 10 points, though Malvik racked up 26 points and five assists, and junior guard Quincy Henderson came up huge with 19 points (7-of-9 FG, 5-of-7 from deep) for the Warriors, who shot 59 percent from the field (fifth-best mark in a championship game), but were undermined by 24 turnovers. With their first setback in a remarkable 18 postseason games,
"It's a tough way to go out,"
"If there's any one guy we'd like to see win this thing, it would be him," Warriors head coach Mike Leaf said, referring to Lievense, a one-time student and coach at
Lievense, Atkinson and a large sampling of the Barton fans have subscribed to the motto "we believe" throughout the season. To them, the words transcend basketball and speak to the core of a deep faith in a higher power.
"God showed himself," Atkinson, who studies the Bible every morning, said afterward. "We didn't preach a sermon, but God moved through us."
Lievense, a devout churchgoer who prays during each game to calm his nerves, used a timeout late in the contest to implore Atkinson, the son of an ordained minister, to lead the team on the court as he does off of it: "I said `It's time for you to take control of the game. We need you now more than ever.'"
"He's the motor that drives our team."
One of the driving forces propelling the Bulldogs this season was last year's crushing defeat at the hands of the eventual champions.
"We had a sour taste in our mouth after losing to them," Friscone said. "I definitely was thinking about it all season... it feels good to beat them."
"At the beginning of the year, coach drew a map of a mountain," Atkinson recalled. "And the bottom was the loss to
"He was going to have to do something super-human," Lievense said. "He did it with faith and a sure heart."
With a school-record 35 wins and a miraculous, movie-worthy run to its first NCAA championship, Barton has reached the promised land of college basketball.
NCAA All-Tournament Team
Anthony Atkinson (Barton) - Most Outstanding Player
John Smith -
Zach Malvik -
Jonte Flowers -
Zack Wright -
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