Dec 1, 2002

Box Score

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A.J. Harris' only basket - a tiebreaking shot with 11 seconds remaining - gave the College of Charleston the Great Alaska Shootout title with a 71-69 victory over Villanova on Saturday night.

Harris, a point guard, allowed the shot clock to wind down, then drove the lane and scooped in the winning shot. After a timeout, Villanova's Derrick Snowden and Gary Buchanan were short on 3-point attempts, and time expired.

Troy Wheless, the tournament's outstanding player, led the Cougars (5-0) with 22 points. Thomas Mobley scored 17.

Buchanan scored 12 points for Villanova (3-2) and Randy Foye and Jason Fraser added 10 each.

The Cougars entered having forced opponents into an average of 22.5 turnovers with a stifling full-court press. The pattern continued against the Wildcats.

Villanova made just one field goal, a 3-pointer by Buchanan, in the first 10:44 and turned the ball over 12 times in the half. The Wildcats shot 33 percent but stayed in the game as Charleston shot just 29 percent.

Joe Weurding's baseline jumper with 7:20 remaining gave Charleston its biggest first-half lead, 22-7. But Villanova went on an 11-3 run to cut it to 25-19 and trailed 29-22 at halftime.

A 15-6 run to open the second half gave Villanova its only lead of the game, 37-35, with 13:46 remaining.

Villanova outrebounded the Cougars 46-25 but lost the turnover battle 20-8. The Wildcats were also hurt at the foul line as they made only 11 of 20 shots.