It's a barnburner in the Elite Eight matchup for the Eastern (?) regional final. In a tournament fraught with danger for top seeds, the barely favored #7 Indiana look like they'll edge out #9 Richmond coached by
Ianphull. The end game score might not look particularly close, but that is solely due to some bench heroics that allowed Indiana's starters to come back in the game and basically run out the clock. Indiana's bench outscored Richmond's second-string 22 to 5; the 17 point differential likely to be more than the margin of victory.
Coach agentcom went to the bench early in the game and was able to manage a small early lead. At halftime the coach acknowledged that the back ups, who have seen limited playing time all season, were going to be able to drive IU into the Final Four. "We've got to start seeing something out of our starters--a spark, some life, anything really," the obviously frustrated coach explained as he headed in for the break.
The second half was not so much of a different story, but the starting five was able to slow the game down just enough that it looked like IU might edge this one out. Proving agentcom wrong, the bench stepped up and dominated with a pivotal moment coming on a botched goal tending call on a three point play, picked up and broken down to the arch by one of the undersung IU players whose position is listed only as "B1." Icing a tre, the six point swing, seemed to breath just enough life into IU starters to hold on to the victory.
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Great game to coach Ianphull. This one was back and forth the entire time and I was pretty sure that I was going to lose it. Every time that I checked back in, it seemed like you'd pulled a double-bold set out of your @$$ at just the right moment.
