Mega March Madness Marathon: Hour No. 6

What happens when a sports fan takes in every minute of Friday’s NCAA first-round action with not one, but two full-size televisions in his living room?  The answer is Mega March Madness Marathon 2009, a Bleacher Report series that will be published approximately every hour by columnist Tim Cary.  The action continues in hour number six.

5:00        And-one for ETSU!

5:01        It’s a five-point play in Dayton.  Bucs miss the free throw, grab the rebound, kick it to the wing, and knock down a triple.

5:01        Panthers' lead is down to two, and they promptly turn it over.  Coach Jamie Dixon can’t believe it.

5:02        Great half-court execution by Pitt to get the ball to Blair on the block.  Bucket and the foul; Panthers up four going to the media timeout.

5:03        Missouri’s still up 64-50; looks like the Tigers will succeed in keeping the Big Red at bay throughout the second half.

5:04        Meanwhile in Minneapolis, the Flyers are still up four.  I think I should just copy that sentence to the computer’s clipboard and paste it into my column every few minutes.  Dayton has had a four-point lead for what seems like forever; at this point, I’m guessing that when the Wright Brothers were heading toward Kitty Hawk, they flipped on their Model T radio to find out that the UD basketball team was up four on West Virginia. 

5:05        Speaking of Flyers, Chris Wright just threw down a big-time dunk to stretch the UD lead to a massive…five points.

5:06        Here’s another sentence we can cut and paste.  “Offensive rebound for the Buccaneers.”  I know the pressure that comes with the fact a No. 1 seed has never lost, but at this point, Pitt still has to be feeling good about its chances—especially after giving up 19 offensive boards and turning it over a zillion times.

5:08        Terrible offensive possession for Pitt, resulting in a 23-foot straightaway jumper that comes up short.  Blair commits a foul going for the rebound…

5:09        …and ETSU misses the front end.  Riddle of the day: how many free throws can a 16-seed miss and still be competitive?

5:09        Pitt with a huge three to stretch the margin to eight.  Will the Panthers escape?

5:10        ETSU answers right back with a hoop and a timeout.  Six-point game.  Sixty-five seconds left.

5:10        Panthers get two free throws, Blair grabs a rebound after the ETSU miss, and the Bucs are finally going to be out of chances.

5:12        Think that 50 percent mark at the foul line is going to haunt the Buccaneers during the offseason? 

5:14        Dayton’s up seven in the final minute now.  After leading by four for the whole game, this is like a blowout.

5:14        The Pitt/ETSU game is finally over.  Panthers win it 72-62, their first double-digit lead of the entire game.  Morehead State gets one more chance for the 16 seeds tonight before the top dogs go a perfect 100-0 in first-round games.

5:17        WVU with a turnover.  Not their best move, especially with 27 seconds to play in a six-point game.

5:19        Dayton gets both free throws, and the lead is eight. 

5:20        Final score: UD 68, WVU 60.  So long, Bob Huggins.

5:21        In regularly scheduled news, this will officially continue the bloodbath of my 2009 bracket.  After turning in a respectable but not brilliant 12-4 showing yesterday,  I’ve already lost four games this afternoon.  That makes me 16-8 with eight games left tonight.  Translation: ouch.

5:23        And I know my wife’s grandma picked Dayton.  Double ouch.  

5:25        Time to get online and find out how many other games she’s out-guessed me in so far.  This shorter segment wraps up the afternoon session: see you in hour number seven as the evening games begin and the 2009 marathon continues.  Thanks for reading!