Anchorage Daily News

The Shootout had no nationally ranked teams, but Saturday night's championship game should rank among the greatest ever.

In a back-and-forth thriller that featured the first overtime in the tournament's 28-year history, Marquette outlasted South Carolina 92-89 in the men's championship game of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout before a crowd of 5,308 at Sullivan Arena.

"It was a classic," South Carolina head coach Dave Odom said.

Marquette (4-1) outscored the Gamecocks 12-9 in the five-minute extra session behind Ryan Amoroso, who poured in nine of his career-high 30 points.

Amoroso was an unlikely hero: he came into the game averaging just 6.3 points per game. But the 6-foot-8, 242-pound sophomore forward drained 11 of 17 shots, including 3 of 4 from three-point range.

Perhaps his biggest basket came in overtime when he converted a traditional three-point play that gave the Golden Eagles a 90-89 advantage with 27 seconds left.

"We just play hard every single possession," Amoroso said, "and now we're cutting down the nets."

Amoroso iced the game by sinking two free throws with four seconds left to give Marquette a three-point cushion. South Carolina (4-1) had a chance to tie, but Tre' Kelley, who scored a career-high 23 points, missed a desperation three-pointer right before the buzzer.

Once the final horn sounded, the Marquette players stormed the court and partied like it was 2001 -- the last time the Golden Eagles won the Shootout.

"It's a real big deal," Marquette's Dominic James said, standing in the middle of the postgame celebration. "Nobody predicted us to win this tournament, but we made a statement. Hopefully, this will put us on the map."

Marquette has never lost a Shootout game under head coach Tom Crean, who guided the Golden Eagles to the title four years ago. Crean kept a piece of the net from that 2001 championship and had players rub it during timeouts.

Call it superstition. The Golden Eagles considered it fate.

"Not too many teams ... can say they have two jerseys hanging on the wall," said James, referring the giant-sized jerseys hanging from the Sullivan rafters. "It's going to feel good to come back one day and see that Marquette jersey."

This time the Golden Eagles had to work a little overtime as well as survive the red-hot shooting Gamecocks, who fired at a 54-percent clip, including 50 percent from three-point range. Marquette was no slouch at 45 percent.

South Carolina forced overtime with 46 seconds remaining in regulation on Tarence Kinsey's four-point play in which he swished a three-pointer despite being fouled.

Kinsey has a reputation for knocking down big shots. He did it last season, draining the winning three-pointer to give South Carolina the NIT championship. He did it in Friday night's semifinals, scoring 22 points in a victory over Monmouth. And he did again against Marquette.

"Lately, I've been stepping up in big situations," said Kinsey, who scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half and overtime. "Even though we lost, I gave God thanks for letting us play hard, and that's all I can really do."

Kinsey wasn't the only star for South Carolina. Renaldo Balkman, who battled early foul trouble, delivered 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots in a performance every bit as good as the numbers.

"You gotta give it up to South Carolina," James said. "They did a great job. It was definitely a challenge for both teams."

Marquette's 6-foot-10 marksman Steve Novak pumped in 28 points, keyed by 6-of-10 shooting on three-pointers. The hard-to-guard Novak is a lethal shooter who launched a couple shots from NBA range, even with a defender in his face.

But Amoroso was the difference. Not only did he score, he pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, played post defense and logged a season-high 30 minutes. Amoroso is a burly man who looks like a linebacker more than a shooter, but he drained shots from all over the court like a guard.

"He has the potential to play like that every night when he wants to," James said. "Tonight he stepped up to the plate and hit a home run to get us the win."

The game, which was broadcast nationally on ESPN2, featured nine ties, 20 lead changes and a ton of big plays. Several players said it was just as much fun to play in as it was to watch.

"With the way the two teams played tonight, nobody really lost the game," Crean said.

Daily News reporter Van Williams can be reached at vwilliams@adn.com.

MARQUETTE (92)

Novak 8-14 6-6 28, Barro 2-4 0-0 4, James 3-12 4-6 12, McNeal 2-4 2-2 7, Matthews 3-9 2-2 9, Fitzgerald 1-2 0-0 2, Chapman 0-3 0-0 0, Amoroso 11-17 5-6 30, Lott 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-66 19-22 92.

SOUTH CAROLINA (89)

Wallace 4-8 0-2 10, Balkman 7-10 2-3 16, Kelley 9-16 0-0 23, Trice 1-2 0-0 3, Kinsey 8-15 2-3 20, McDowell 0-0 0-0 0, Sheldon 2-3 0-0 5, Tisby 4-8 0-0 8, Day 0-2 0-0 0, Konate 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 37-68 4-8 89.

Three-point goals -- Marquette 13-28 (Novak 6-10, Amoroso 3-4, James 2-7, McNeal 1-1, Matthews 1-2, Chapman 0-3, Fitzgerald 0-1), South Carolina 11-21 (Kelley 5-8, Wallace 2-3, Kinsey 2-4, Trice 1-1, Sheldon 1-2, Konate 0-1, Day 0-2).

Total fouls -- Marquette 11, South Carolina 20. Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Marquette 37 (Amoroso 12), South Carolina 32 (Balkman 8). Assists --Marquette 20 (James 9), South Carolina 21 (Balkman 6). Steals -- Marquette 5 (McNeal 2), South Carolina 4 (Wallace 2). Turnovers -- Marquette 12 (Fitzgerald 4), South Carolina 12 (Kelley 3, Kinsey 3). Blocked shots -- Marquette 0, South Carolina 6 (Balkman 3). Technical fouls -- None.

Field-goal percentage -- Marquette 45.5, South Carolina 54.4. Free-throw percentage -- Marquette 86.4, South Carolina 50.0. Officials -- Kelly Self, Gabby Lujan, Tim Gabutero. A -- 7,496 (tickets sold).

Marquette 42 38 12 -- 92

South Carolina43 37 9 -- 89

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Most Outstanding Player: Steve Novak, Marquette

Nick Young, Southern California

Kemmy Burgess, Alaska Anchorage

Jamaal Tatum, Southern Illinois

Caleb Green, Oral Roberts

Tarence Kinsey, South Carolina

Dominic James, Marquette

Ken Tutt, Oral Roberts

Jerel McNeal, Marquette

Tre' Kelley, South Carolina

Renaldo Balkman, South Carolina

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