Men's Mid-Con tournament: Day 2 in review - TW

[ORUTerry]

Men's Mid-Con tournament: Day 2 in review

By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

3/6/2006

Player of the Day:

Chicago State guard Royce Parran scored 24 of his game-high 30 points in the final 8:31 as the Cougars rallied from a 12-point deficit to stun Missouri-Kansas City 75-66. Parran made 5-of-14 from the field with one trey and 19-of-23 from the foul line, setting tournament records for makes and attempts. He scored at least 30 in a game for the fourth time this season. He also had four steals and three assists.

Quote of the Day:

"For Dan (Oppland) and I (both seniors), this is it. There's no more motivation than that. We were fired up from the jump."

Valpo senior guard Ron Howard

NEWS AND NOTES

Drought over:

Valparaiso had never won a game in Tulsa until Sunday's win over Southern Utah.

The Crusaders are 0-10 against Oral Roberts at the Mabee Center and lost a first-round game to Chicago State in last year's Mid-Con Tournament at the UMAC.

"We definitely talked about it," said senior guard Ron Howard. "We didn't want what happened to us last year to happen again. At halftime, that's one of the few things the players who were here last year talked about. Last year, we were feeling good about what was going on. We had a lead and weren't feeling any pressure. We thought we had the game won, and Chicago State came out and played extremely well in the second half, which is what Southern Utah did today. But that game prepared us for the runs they made."

Local support:

About 65 members of the Tulsa Central High marching band, directed by Khalid Rhone, played for Chicago State in its Sunday night upset of UMKC.

The "Crimson and Cream Marching Machine" just returned from parade competitions in San Diego, where it finished first, and Los Angeles, where it was second, Rhone said.

Crowd figures:

Saturday's crowds of 1,586 (first session) and 3,799 (second session) were smaller than last year's opening-day numbers, but exceeded every other Mid-Con tournament since 1994.