March 13, 2007

Head Coach Mike Gillespie, Sr.

"We certainly want to compliment Niagara University. Outstanding team, tremendous season. Tremendous individual performance by Clif Brown,single-handedly carried them down the stretch. It was tough to contain him tonight. I thought our kids played as hard as they could for as long as they could. I thought fatigue was a little bit of a factor. They (Niagara) were the better team tonight. There's no doubt about it."

"I want to give all the credit to Niagara. I am so proud of the way my team, my seniors, gave everything they possibly could tonight. I thought we hit a wall at a particular moment right there, and Niagara was a good enough team to take advantage of it. These two gentlemen (Darius Glover and Rome Sanders) have been terrific ambassadors for our university."

Did Clif Brown's performance surprise you?
"His range surprised us. We knew he was a very good shooter. He wasn't a great dribble drive guy, but an outstanding catch-and-shoot guy. He has some athleticism around the rim. Needless to say, we didn't expect him to go 6 for 11 from the three. He made some tough shots. He stepped up, and he certainly was a difference-maker in tonight's game."

What is your perspective on having won the Opening Round game and lost this game in your career?
"This is a very difficult game to play. We and Niagara earned the right to be the Cinderella. We earned the right to be a Cinderella team. We won three games in three days, three grueling games. The MEAC is a very good league. We deserve the right to put on that slipper. I won my conference. I did exactly what the NCAA asked me to do. I won my league championship, and that is all they asked me to do. I didn't come in third in the conference. I didn't get beat the first game. So, those teams, the Niagara's, us, we deserve, even if it's a 16, let us be the David. Let us wear the slipper even just for one day because that's what this is all about. It's about these kids. These guys deserve to accept the accolades of winning their conference tournament and to be that David to slay the Goliath. They deserved that, and they were denied that. This is like playing another conference championship game. I've already done that. I've won that game. I hope that the NCAA will take a look and ask those last two at-large teams. Let them come in and play this game because they didn't win their tournament. They didn't. We did. It's a terrible. It is a feeling of helplessness because I don't know how to uplift them. What they've done this year has been incredible. That all gets lost a little bit right now, tonight, and that's not fair to the student-athlete It's not fair that the MEAC three of the last four seasons has been in this (Opening Round) game. And if we are the 65th best team in this tournament, then this is a hell of a tournament."

Florida A & M University Rattlers

Senior Center Rome Sanders
On Niagara's defense:

"They were long and athletic. They would double and give us a couple looks. Doubling in the post confused me a bit." Darius Glover on A&M's first-half comeback:

"We were confident throughout the whole game. We didn't get rattled. We made a run. They just outrebounded us. That was the game."

Niagara Purple Eagles Head Coach Joe Mihalich
"I am very proud of what we did today. We beat a very good team. I thought our defense in the second half was pretty good. Of course Clif (Brown) made some big, big shots. This is our first NCAA tournament win in 37 years. Everyone is trying to make history, and that's what we're trying to do too."
"It's an NCAA tournament win. It's an NCAA tournament game. Someone corrected me and said it's the opening round, but it's an NCAA tournament win so there's no asterisk as far as I'm concerned."
"Our purple-shirted fans had a lot to do with this win. They made a great sacrifice to come here. We're on spring break so no one is around. We still had that many people come here and it makes a difference."
"(Duffy) is like an unsung hero. Everyone on the team has incredible respect for him, starting with me. There are so many things J.R. does that don't show up in the stat sheet, but we know it. But he's made the ultimate sacrifice. All he wants to do is cut down the nets and win."
"What Clif did tonight was exceptional. He is a hard guy to guard. He plays the five spot for us, but he clearly doesn't play like a five man. Hopefully that's one of the things we have in our advantage. If you're 6'8, 240 he is a hard guy to guard."
"We all believe in ourselves. I've said all along we could beat any team in the league and make it to the NCAA tournament if we kept our heads together and we did. It's incredibly gratifying for me. We fear no one and respect everyone. These guys don't feel like they're going to lose. It's contagious. All they want to do is win."

Senior Forward Clif Brown
"I had a few chances to go to the tournament when I was at Kent State. They went to the NIT two years, then I redshirted the year and the year I transferred they got to go to the NCAA Tournament, so this is special."
"I had a lot of people to learn from. Juan I learned a lot from. Antonio Gates, when he was at Kent State, I learned a lot from. There's been a few people who have taught me how special the game of basketball is."
"We're playing and it's fun. We're still practicing, we're on ESPN and on TV, so it?s fun. I know everyone else is feeling it."
"The thing is our team, you never know who is going to be the guy. I had hit a few shots in the first half, so I had it going a little bit. Not every night is like that. Sometimes Charron (Fisher) is on, sometimes it's Lorenzo (Miles), sometimes it's Tyrone (Lewis), you just never know. I was feeling pretty good and I took shots when I was open."
"Every game I think about how many rebounds I am going to get. I don't think about how many shots. As I said, you never know who is going to step up. Going in, one rattled in and after that I was feeling good."
"Like I said, we're a fearless bunch. It doesn?t matter who we play because we will play our hardest. As long as we do that, I feel that we have a chance."

Senior Forward J.R. Duffey
"It's been great. Coach always talks about making history and making your own history. This group of seniors, me, Clif, Lorenzo and Greg (Noel) went into this game wanting to make program history by winning this tournament game."
"I wouldn't say we were concerned about it. We knew what we had to do to win the game. Our defense came along in the second half and got the job done."