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Game 2

UNC 76
Idaho 46

A sloppy game with 38 turnovers between both teams, but flashes of stellar play paved the way for a Tar Heel 30 point victory.  Idaho held a 9-6 lead early in the 1st, until UNC rattled off a 44-13 run to close the half.  Balanced scoring for UNC in a game that was over at Halftime.  Gregg Cox and backup PG Kelvin Levitt shared the leading scorer honors with 13.

Kansas 52
Army 40

Stingy defense reigned supreme in this game at Army, but in the end the Jayhawks were just too much to handle.  Mohammed Brown evaded Army's attack for 15 points and 11 rebounds.  He also swatted away 3 shots.  Army, shooting only 34% from the field, couldn't get a scorer higher than 7 points.  Kansas improves to 2-0 in the UNCI and sets up the Championship against UNC tomorrow.

2nd UNCI Championship

#3 UNC 83
#14 Kansas 67

UNC has won the UNCI title for the 2nd year in a row with a impressive win over the ranked Jayhawks.  Kansas had their chances to close in on the Tar Heels, outrebounding them by 10 on the offensive glass, but the inability to convert on those extra chances doomed the men from Lawrence.  Gregg Cox decided to drop a season high 25 and blocked 4 shots to secure the title for UNC, and perhaps MVP of the tournament. 

3rd place Game
Idaho 71
Army 52

Idaho's starters came out to avenge the first 2 losses in the tourney, and stormed out of the gate to a comfortable lead before dispatching the Army easily.  James Spady was no side kick in this one, doing it all with 17 pts 12 rebs 1 stl and 3 blks.  Starters combined for 59 of Idaho's 71 points.  Army got a monster game from James Sharer, who shot 8-10 from the field for 18 points, but it wasn't enough to grab the 3rd place crown. 

2nd annual North Carolina Invitational All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP - Gregg Cox (C) UNC

Team:
Gregg Cox (UNC) - 17.0 ppg 16/28 FG 2.6 blk
Mohammed Brown (Kansas) - 12.6 ppg 6.3 reb
James Sharer (Army) - 10.0 ppg 11/18 FG
James Spady (Idaho) - 6.3 ppg 7.0 reb
Carl Morris (UNC) - 10.0 ppg 11/19 FG

If you'd like to play in the 4th annual North Carolina Invitational you must keep open Games 5, 6, and 7 when you begin to schedule next year.  We are filling spots for 2 seasons from now.  Don't wait for an invite from me, but drop me a sitemail or post on here if you want in on the action.

3rd Annual North Carolina Invitational

Coastal Carolina
Army
Michigan St.
UNC

If you're interested in participating in the 4th annual NCI, leave games 5, 6, and 7 open when we begin scheduling in a few days and contact me right away while there are slots available.

I'd like to get involved in the 4th annual invitational.

I'll put Marquette down for the 5th annual Invitational.  We've already filled the 4th annual for next season.  We have one more spot for the 5th annual Invitational so sitemail is the best way to jump on it or post you'd like to participate here.

Let's meet the participants for the 3rd annual North Carolina Invitational:

Coastal Carolina:  The premier team out of the Big South Conference making 5 out of the last 9 NT appearances, the Chanticleers are one of the best teams out of the midmajor level.  They also enjoy the stability of being coached by panapanthers, who consistently puts winning teams out on the floor.  In the his 13th season, he has been over .500 in every season with Coastal Carolina in every season.  Following a 2nd round NT exit 2 seasons ago and a finish in the top 25, Coastal Carolina should threaten the postseason once again.

Army:  An elite 8 finish in the first season under coach mattstarks put this squad on the map in a hurry.  Now with a full roster of the coach's own recruits the building has begun with a postseason appearance and last year and at least a repeat appearance this season.   Jr. SF Jason Sharer paces Army at 17.5 ppg.

Michigan State:  In what was supposed to be a "rebuilding" year for the Spartans, colorblind79 led this overachieving group to the Elite 8 last season.  The season simply kept up the pattern of high level success that has been a staple of Michigan St including 3 Final 4 runs and 3 Elite 8 finishes.  This youthful squad will look to veteran leaders like Sr. C William Jameson, Jr. PG Matthew Etheridge, and former Chicago prep star So. SF William Burke.

UNC:   Winners of the first 2 North Carolina Invitationals, the Tar Heels have made the NT 4 straight seasons, including 2 National Championships under coach jleo, who holds the top overall winning % among current DI coaches (.733).  UNC returns 2nd team preseason All-American Center Sr. Gregg Cox to the mix and have added Duke transfer Darren Bryant to its formidable starting 5. 

Game 5:
Coastal Carolina at UNC
Army at Michigan St.

Game 6:
Army at UNC
Michigan St at Coastal Carolina

Game 7:
Michigan St. at UNC
Coastal Carolina at Army

Game 1

UNC 79 Coastal Carolina 73
A 15 point Coastal Carolina lead late in the 1st half vanished when Fletcher Moss drilled a 3 with 4:59 left in the game, and the Tar Heels wouldn't look back taking the first game of the Invitational by 6.  The Chanticleers shot lights out from the field at 58% for the game, but counteracting that shooting display from the field was UNC's +21 output from the charity stripe.  10 free throws came from the shooting hand of Kelvin Levitt, who finished with a game high 24 points.  Edward Clark knocked in 15 while Gregg Cox added 13.  CC took a 13 point advantage into the break thanks in part to a blistering 72% FG pct in the 1st half.  Eric Rains led CC scorers with 14.

Michigan St. 73 Army 62 (OT)
The Spartans had to go 45 minutes to finish off Army after blowing a 2nd half lead and watching Army tie the game after a Matthew Etheridge foul with no time remaining on the clock.  Army's Charles Russo made the first free throw to tie the game, but missed the second.  With a new life, the Spartans outscored Army 16-5 in the extra frame.  The Spartans jumped to an 11 point lead in the 2nd half, and it was the William Jameson show.  The senior Center from Grand Rapids finished with 24 on 10-13 FG.  Not to be outdone, Army's Richard Klotz matched his 24 and added 11 rebounds in a losing effort.

Game 2

Coastal Carolina 65 Michigan St. 54
This time the Chanticleers' 1st half lead stood up for 40 minutes and produced a definitive upset  of the Michigan St. Spartans in Game 2 of NCI.  After the game was tied at 5, Coastal Carolina took command and held a double digit for virtually the rest of the contest.  CC's smothering defense produced 17 turnovers, and they shot 51% from the field getting solid all-around games from the starting 5 of Rains (13 pts 7 reb), Forte (7 pts 8 reb), Albright (7 pts 2 stl), Hawkin (13 pts 3 3FG), and Brooks (8 pts 5 reb 5 ast).    William Jameson led Spartan scorers with 11, but shot a dreadful 3-12 from the field and had 5 turnovers.

Army 63 UNC 62
When UNC's Gregg Cox fallaway shot clanked the front of rim with no time remaining a hush went over the Chapel Hill crowd as Army pulled off the stunner winning by 1 and putting themselves in contention for the NCI championship.  In a game that saw 27 ties or lead changes and a back and forth 2nd half, Army was left standing after 40 minutes.  With the game tied at 59 with 2 minutes left player of the game Charles Russo (14 pts, 6-6 FT) calmed sank 2 free throws to put Army ahead.  Edward Clark followed with a big shot on a beautiful dish from Kelvin Levitt (6 assists) to tie it back up.  After Russo threw an errant pass out of bounds, he compounded the problem by fouling UNC's best free throw shooter Levitt.  Levitt was only able to split the pair, and Army's William Moronta (10 pts) was able to get a putback tip in after a Gregg Cox (11 pts) blocked shot.  Edward Clark would miss a shot to take the lead with :46 left, but UNC would get one more chance with no time but would not prevail.  Harold Quattlebaum led all UNC scorers with 13 pts off the bench while Duke transfer Darren Bryant chipped in 11.

Game 3
Michigan St(1-1) at UNC(1-1)
A Michigan St win and Army win will give the Spartans the championship.  A UNC win and a Coastal Carolina win will give the Tar Heels their 3rd straight NCI crown.

Coastal Carolina(1-1) at Army(1-1)
A Coastal Carolina win and a Michigan St. win will give the Chanticleers the title.  An Army win and a UNC win gives Army the tournament win.

Game 3

UNC 79 Michigan St 50
UNC opened as large as a 34 point lead in the 2nd half to put a stamp on this NCI with a 29 point victory.  UNC enjoyed a 28-7 run from near the end of the 1st half through the beginning of the 2nd half, and had 4 players in double figures.  Edward Clark's star shined the brightest perfect from the field and the charity stripe for 13 points and 9 rebounds.  Fletcher Moss added a game high 14 points off the bench, and Gregg Cox (11 pts 5 blks) and Kelvin Levitt (9 pts 4 stl) added the defensive intensity.  MSU only had 5 players score more than 2 points, and lost control of the game holding an early 10-9 lead.  The Spartans come out with a 3rd place finish in the tourney.

Coastal Carolina 79 Army 71
Both teams shot over 50% from the field, but ultimately Army's 10-21 mark from the FT line would haunt them in the end.  Henry Forte enjoyed his best game as a senior with 17 points and 14 rebounds to lead 4 in double figures for the Chanticleers.  Jeffrey Marson led Army with 15, but Richard Klotz's 14 points could have been a lot more (6-13 FT).  Coastal Carolina finishes 2-1 and grabs 2nd place in the NCI becoming the 1st team from a non-Big 6 school to take the honors.

North Carolina Invitational Champions

• Season 43     North Carolina (3-0)
  
• Season 44     North Carolina (3-0)
  
• Season 45     North Carolina (2-1)

All Tournament Team
UNC PG Kelvin Levitt    13.3 ppg 3.3 ast 2 stl
CC  C Eric Rains     12.7 ppg 7.7 reb
UNC C  Edward Clark     10-13 FG, 12-13 FT
Army PF Richard Klotz     15.3 ppg 7.3 reb
MSU C  William Jameson     15.0 ppg 5.3 reb
CC PF Henry Forte     11.0 ppg 10.3 reb
CC SG Kerry Hawkin     12.3 ppg 1.7 stl

I guess NC sould win their own tournament...

I'd like to get in on this in the next couple seasons.  In DII now, moving BACK up to DI next season.