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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Saturday, March 16, 2002

Sato's 3-pointer at end of half was game-turner

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer

DALLAS — In a game decided by 12 points, one basket doesn't usually stand out.

But when it came to Xavier University's 70-58 elimination of the University of Hawai'i in the NCAA Tournament West Region yesterday, one shot loomed large.

It was the 3-pointer by Romain Sato at the first-half buzzer that dramatically marked a turning of the tide in this one.

Sato, a native of the Central African Republic who speaks six languages, made a basket that would be big in all of them.

"It turned the complete momentum of the game around," UH coach Riley Wallace said afterward.

Said Xavier coach Thad Matta: "For (Romain) to hit that big 3 gave us momentum going into the second half."

It was the focal point of a five-point Xavier run — all by Sato — in the final 43 seconds of the first half that trimmed what was a 12-point UH lead (40-28) to 7 (40-33).

Proof of its importance was the way the Musketeers left the floor, arms raised, almost celebratory despite the score.

Leading 40-28 with 3 minutes, 7 seconds left, UH several times had opportunities to push the lead much higher. But three field goal attempts didn't fall and Carl English missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw situation with 1:42 remaining.

Sato hit a 2-point shot with 43 seconds and then, with 33 seconds remaining and the ball, UH called time out. "I told them to run it down to one or two seconds so (Xavier) couldn't go down and score," Wallace said. "It wasn't important if we scored."

English said he saw an opening in the middle of the Musketeer defense, "and decided to go for it. But it closed real fast."

English drew the offensive foul and Xavier got the ball back with 9.6 seconds left.

"(Lionel Chalmers) saw me open and I knew I had just two seconds to shoot it," said Sato, who hit the 3-point shot from the left side.

It carried Xavier into the locker room on an emotional high in a game that would never be the same for the Rainbows.