Raiders criss-crossed by White
3/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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By Gordie Jones, of the Morning Call
WORCESTER,
You know what they say in that one: ''Get busy living, or get busy dying.''
That's damn right.
And certainly it applies to a great many college basketball teams at this time of year.
That's not White's favorite line from the movie, though. The Mountain Hawk sophomore forward is more partial to this one: ''Hope is a good thing, maybe the best thing. And a good thing never dies.''
Which is also relevant. Especially to the Hawks, and especially now.
White gave Lehigh life and hope Friday night, when it appeared they didn't have much of either. Supplied 13 points and 10 rebounds, his first career double-double, to propel the sluggish Hawks past Colgate, 48-44, in a Patriot League quarterfinal in Holy Cross'
Scored the first points of the game, on a stick-back. Scored the night's final points, on a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds left. In between, it only seemed like he got his hands on every rebound, every loose ball.
''He's been doing it all season,'' guard Jose Olivero said. ''Now everybody's seeing it at tournament time.''
White hasn't been doing it enough to suit himself, and he did it too much Friday to suit Colgate coach Emmett Davis.
''I want to be a playmaker,'' said White, who began the night with modest averages of 6.4 points and 5.2 rebounds. ''And I feel I took a step toward that today.''
Olivero and Joe Knight are, of course, the Hawks' go-to guys, but neither was able to get untracked Friday; they combined for just 16 points, on 6-for-21 shooting.
''I wanted to pick up the slack,'' White said, ''whatever slack there was.''
Seven of his rebounds were on the offensive end, and he had four steals — the last of an errant pass by Todd Checovich with 2.2 seconds left, when the Raiders, down 46-44 after erasing a 10-point deficit, were looking to forge a tie.
White was fouled immediately, and back to the line he went, where he had gone 1-for-6 to that point in the game.
''I had confidence he was going to make them,'' coach Billy Taylor said.
White was less sure. He gave himself a pep talk, saying that this was why he had come to Lehigh — to make big shots like this. Then teammate Michael Fischman sidled up to him.
''I said, 'Fish, don't talk to me,' '' White said later, laughing at the memory.
He made both, putting his team up four. And when the Raiders' Simon Knight threw a long inbounds pass, it should come as no surprise that White was the one who got his hands on the ball, as time expired.
Asked later to sum up the game,
''Any time you play these guys, Joe Knight and Jose Olivero have to be your focus,'' he said. ''The thing I'm disappointed in is that we let Bryan White do the things that he did. He's a good player, but he got a double-double. We need to do a better job on him.''
It was just his night. His night to provide life, and hope.
And where Lehigh was concerned, it was the best thing.
This story originally appeared in the Saturday, March 4, 2006 edition of The Morning Call. Used with permission.
